[A Google] takes a different approach, one that has drawn applause from some media firms but criticism -- and a lawsuit -- from others. Unlike Yahoo News, America Online Inc.'s AOL News and most other news aggregators, Google doesn't strike deals to run news material on its website. Instead, its software scours more than 4,500 sites - - selected by Google employees -- for photos, headlines and stories, then posts them in categories on Google News.

The Google method has drawbacks. Websites promoting white supremacy and anti-Semitism have slipped into news results, drawing criticism before Google removed them. And some media companies have objected to Google's use of their material.

Executives from Associated Press are also concerned about Google and other news aggregators that pluck stories from the Web instead of paying for them. They have not sued Google or asked Google to remove AP stories from the news service but said they were in negotiations, trying to persuade the Internet company to buy a license.