GOOGLE will announce today a tie-up with more than 50 newspapers, through which the internet giant will create an online marketplace to help print media to sell advertising electronically.

The deal will be interpreted as an attempt to placate newspapers worried that the search engine’s runaway success is threatening their future, although Google asserts that the new service is merely an opportunity for it to make money. Initially, the marketplace is being introduced to the United States, where participants include The New York Times and The Washington Post, but Google plans to expand it internationally, including Britain.

Google’s rapid revenue growth — its third-quarter revenues were up by 70 per cent — has caused traditional media outlets to panic. They are worried that advertisers are withdrawing from their titles.

In Britain, advertising revenues have been tumbling in tabloid and regional titles.

The internet company is also scrambling to negotiate content agreements with broadcasters to legitimise the use of television clips on its recently acquired YouTube. Last week Andy Duncan, the chief executive of Channel 4, said that traditional television was under threat because Google had risen from nowhere to become the second-largest recipient of advertising in the UK.

Tom Phillips, Google’s director of print advertising, said that it was important for the internet giant to help to promote the newspaper business. However, he added: “We are not just doing this to be friends with print media. We are doing this because there is a big business opportunity here providing value to media properties.”

At first Google will not charge fees for hosting the service, which it is launching in an early trial “alpha” mode, emphasising its desire for the marketplace to take off. In the future, though, it hopes to charge what Mr Phillips described as a relatively modest commission.

Google has lined up more than 100 advertisers, many of which are dot-com businesses that traditionally have shunned print but might be tempted to use the new marketplace. Those involved include eHealth, a Nasdaq-listed health insurance broker, and eBags, which claims to be the world’s leading online retailer for bags and accessories.

The search engine believes that the new exchange will help to simplify the process of buying display space in newspapers and help to bring smaller advertisers to high- profile titles. “Marketing clients find buying into newspapers is more difficult than it should be, and publishers even tell us that their systems are complex,” Mr Phillips said. Participating newspapers enter demographic details about their titles and benchmark advertising rates. Advertisers then input the prices at which they are willing to buy print space in their chosen titles, and publishers decide whether to accept the offers.

Google is also interested in expanding into other media with similar order-matching services. In January the company acquired dMarc broadcasting for $102 million. The company provides an automated advertising system for the radio industry.

Times Recommends

• C&G axed - 1,660 jobs to be lost
• UK house prices rise 1.1% as buyers return
• Mixed reaction to US banks repaying bailouts