The site will now show only agency stories, and if the agencies do not have their own news sites, Google will host the copy itself, MediaGuardian reported.

“The announcement that Google is to publish news content on its own site is likely to be met with some concern from the news industry, which has struggled to work out whether the web giant's activities across video, advertising and book publishing are a threat or an opportunity,” writes Jemima Kiss, for MediaGuardian.

Josh Cohen, Google News business product manager, told MediaGuardian the move should not worry publishers. There will now be more room on Google News for original content from media outlets, which will now be higher up in search results, he said. Stories from the four news agencies will not be displayed any higher in search results, despite the financial deals, he added.