Google revealed its most recent online news venture with the unveiling of Fast Flip at a TechCrunch 50 event in San Francisco, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Fast Flip allows online readers to browse articles in a way similar to browsing a newspaper or magazine in print form. The application supplies screen shots of new Web pages, showing just the article and masthead, and is designed to load instantly in an attempt to replicate the reading experience of traditional print media.

"One problem with reading news online today is that browsing can be really slow," Krishna Bharat, Google News distinguished researcher, wrote in Google's official blog. A media-rich page loads dozens of files and can take as much as 10 seconds to load over broadband, which can be frustrating. What we need instead is a way to flip through articles really fast without unnatural delays, just as we can in print. The flow should feel seamless and let you rapidly flip forward to the content you like, without the constant wait for things to load. Imagine taking 10 seconds to turn the page of a print magazine!"

However, PC World points out that Fast Flips is still in Google Labs, which means it's not a completely finished product, and isn't necessarily faster, at least not yet:

"The flipping interface shows one story at a time in legible form - versus the dozens that plain ol' Google News puts on one screen - along with thumbnails in which the headlines are tiny and the articles themselves are too tiny to read. Once you click on a preview, you go to the originating site - which is no faster than usual-and getting back to Fast Flip may be kinda cumbersome, especially if you've clicked through to a multi-page article."

The content is provided based on what has been defined as most popular by readers, and revenue comes from contextual ads placed around screen shots, according to the LA Times. However, in a decision that marks a development in Google's relationship with newspapers, the company has agreed to share "the bulk" of its revenue with the original publishers.

The new product has generated interest from a number of top publishers, including The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, Business Week, Newsweek, the Center for Investigative Reporting and National Geographic, all of which have agreed to participate in Fast Flip.