Google wants its online news site to feel more like the good old print product.

And the company is prepared to pay for it.

Google took the wraps off of Fast Flip on Monday, a slick online tool that lets readers flip through articles from newspapers and magazines as quickly and effortlessly as if they were turning the pages of a magazine.

The company said it will share advertising revenue with the 30 publishers whose content is currently available on Fast Flip, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and Newsweek.

Obsessive Google-watchers may recall that rumors of this product emerged back in June.

But the company officially released Fast Flip on Monday, making it available on Google Labs, the company’s outlet for products that are still in the testing phase.

Google is essentially hosting images of the first page of various articles from its partner publishers. A Web surfer can browse by topic or news source and scroll through fast-loading snapshots of all the relevant articles. There’s a “recommended” section that aggregates the most popular articles thanks to a new recommendation tool that Google has added (watch out Digg!).

Google is running banner ads alongside the article thumbnails, the proceeds of which will be split with publishers (though Google won’t disclose the terms of the revenue split). If a Web surfer wants to read the full article, they’re redirected to the publisher’s actual Web site.

“The publishing industry faces many challenges today, and there is no magic bullet,” said Google Distinguished Researcher Krishna Bharat in a blog post announcing Fast Flip. “However, we believe that encouraging readers to read more news is a necessary part of the solution. We think Fast Flip could be one way to help, and we’re looking to find other ways to help as well in the near future.”

It’s a fine balancing act by Google, which can continue to stand behind its argument that it helps news sites by sending traffic their way while also sharing a bit of the wealth.

But Bharat acknowledged in an interview with Reuters that various aspects of Fast Flip, including the business model, are subject to change.

Whether the current iteration will be enough to assuage some of Google’s most vocal news industry critics remains to be seen.

Missing among the list of FastFlip partners is Dow Jones, whose chief executive called Google a “digital vampire” this summer.

How much are 1,000 Facebook friends worth?

According to Leon Hill, $177.30.

That’s the price that Hill’s online marketing firm uSocial.net is selling Facebook friends for, through a new service that has already raised alarms within Facebook.

Hill’s reputation as a notorious peddler of online souls precedes him, having launched a similar service selling Twitter followers to clients earlier this year.

Another endeavor, in which he sought to “game” social bookmarking site Digg by letting advertisers buy votes to push certain stories to the top of the site, earned him a cease-and-desist letter from Digg’s attorneys, he says. (A Digg representative said the company could not comment).

Now, uSocial has set it sights on Facebook, which Hill believes will be the greatest opportunity yet.

“It’s going to be massive. There are about 20 times more people on Facebook” than on Twitter, said Hill in a telephone interview from his home-base in Brisbane, Australia on Wednesday.

The idea is to provide a company with a giant pool of Facebook friends, which Hill’s clients can then market to. Hill said that he befriends Facebook users on behalf of his corporate client, approaching users who are fans of Ferraris, for example, if a client of his wants an audience that’s interested in sports cars.

“With Facebook it’s always up to the person whether they want to be a friend or not. They can always remove them later,” said Hill.

Facebook doesn’t see it that way.

“We’re just beginning an investigation now, but it’s clear to us that potential customers of their service should be cautious,” Facebook said in a statement.

“The value of a person that is tricked, coerced or bribed into being a Facebook friend or fan is extremely limited and may actually work against whatever goals the customer is attempting to achieve,” the statement continued.

Facebook also warned that its terms of service prohibit people from using their profile for commercial gain and that users found violating the policy could have their accounts permanently disabled.

Hill says he’s gotten better at covering his tracks since his Twitter and Digg days. He no longer uses any automated software to find users, and he routinely changes his servers’ IP addresses.

So long as a client doesn’t admit that they’ve paid for friends, there’s no way for Facebook to find out, Hill contended.

According to Hill, he’s already signed up 30 clients in the first six hours that his Facebook service has been available. Demand is so strong that Hill believes he’ll easily double the $60,000 a month in sales that he claims his company currently generates.

“The one thing about this business, people either love what I do or hate what I do,” said Hill.

If Steve Jobs’ well-being is somehow symbiotic with Apple Inc’s well-being, shouldn’t there be an application for tracking his whereabouts?

Someone must have a lucrative business plan for creating an “EDtv” or “The Truman Show” around the guru of the iPod Mac and iPhone.

Perhaps, this exclusive content could be piped to all Apple TV set-top boxes — for a fee. At the very least, how about a desktop widget that shows where in the world Steve Jobs is.

Its a scenario so fantastic that one wonders why noone has already discussed it. But maybe some have come close. The Wall Street Journal says one hedge fund in 2004 hired private investigators to follow Apple’s CEO to hospital visits, hoping to glean information about how sick, or well, he was. Remember — that was the year that Jobs had surgery to cure pancreatic cancer, a fact the company waited months to disclose.

All of this comes because of concerns about Jobs appearance of late, the company’s cloudy response to questions about his health, and their reluctance to disclose a successor-in-waiting at Apple that can match Jobs’s legendary status — and reassure shareholders.

For what its worth, the New York Times says all this sick talk is nonsense, and that Jobs has reassured people that he is “doing well” and free of cancer.

Silicon Valley long-timer John Markoff quotes “a number of his associates” as saying that Jobs is telling them that he is cancer free.
   
But Markoff introduced new details on Jobs’ health record by revealing that Jobs had a surgical procedure this year “to address a problem that was contributing to a loss of weight.” He cited people close to Jobs who were not authorized to speak about his health.  

Markoff also said Jobs ran a high fever the week ahead of his speech announcing the iPhone 3G and considered canceling his appearance. His gaunt appearance at that June 9 event resurrected rumors he was battling cancer. Sources tell Markoff Jobs has been dealing with nutritional problems in the wake of his cancer surgery. The article did not specify if this was a reference to the recent surgery or that of four years ago.

Still, I can’t help but wonder how many of us would subscribe to “The Steve Jobs Channel.”

Keep an eye on:

• Google is in final talks to buy Digg for $200 million. (Techcrunch )
• Tribune CEO Sam Zell defended his plan for large cuts at newspapers across the chain. (Hartford Courant)
• New York Times quarterly revenue and profit fall (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

Is Digg.com for sale?Even though founder Kevin Rose told CNET last month that the answer is “no”, today the answer appears to be “yes”.According to TechCrunch, Google and Microsoft may be prepared to fight over the popular Web site, which lets readers recommend articles to others.Digg has been working with investment bank Allen & Co, and is pitching big tech and media companies on a sale. It is even prepared to take less than the $300 million suggested late last year, TechCrunch said.Four companies, including Internet giants Google and Microsoft, are in heavy due diligence with Digg. The other two are media or news companies, TechCrunch said, adding that Google will likely bid $200-$225 million, which Digg would likely accept. Is Barry Diller’s IAC interested?TechCrunch expects a bidding war between Microsoft and Google.It wouldn’t be the first time they have butt heads over Digg. Last summer, Microsoft became the exclusive provider of display and contextual advertising on Digg.com, replacing Google.Then again, Silicon Alley Insider suggests that any offer over $100 million might be too much.Update: Digg CEO Jay Adelson speaks out on the company’s blog:

Normally our policy is to not comment about things like this, but this morning’s rumors about a bidding war involving Google and Microsoft have created such a stir we feel compelled to tell you all directly that they are completely inaccurate.Sorry to burst any drama theories, but they aren’t true. We remain focused on improving Digg and rolling out great features.

Alleyinsider’s Peter Kafka remains a bit skeptical over Adelson’s comments.(TechCrunch )Keep an eye on:

• Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer pledged the company would gain share against Google in online advertising and Web searching, even if it’s his “last breath” at the company. (Reuters)
• The board of National Public Radio its said chief executive, Ken Stern, was leaving after less than 18 months “by mutual agreement.” (NYT)

(Photo: Digg.com founder Kevin Rose, Digg.com)