A recent Google patent filing shows that the company may be developing a service which lets its users create their own print publications made of selected online content and monetized by targeted advertisements based on that user and content profile.
Dave HuoMah has a very in depth overview:
The system revolves around document processing, and, more interestingly, the customization/personalization of content and advertisements in various publication formats; e.g., print form (e.g., newspapers, magazines, books, etc.), electronic form (e.g., electronic newspapers, electronic books (“e-Books”), electronic magazines.
You will have the ability to create your own ‘customize publication’ that contains the content (and advertising) that you have chosen. There is the ability to search content to add to your ‘personalized’ publication as well as suggestions generated through user history. The system can track a given topic a user is monitoring and update/suggest new related content as it becomes available. Content could also be searched by price, topic and dates for example, or any other information ‘deemed to be useful to either a user and/or a content provider in locating content to be provided in a customized publication’. You could also set updates on a given frequency (weekly, monthly) and set which content items you wish to have updated for that given period.
Bill Slawski also has a nice write up on the patent and how Google Magazine could be available at Google Kiosks.
