In the peek-a-boo dance of the AP-Google negotiation, it appears that AP stories are back in Google News. Earlier this month Danny wrote an extensive post about an apparent deal between the parties to allow the continued indexing of AP stories in Google News.

Now the Wall Street Journal reports:

New articles from the Associated Press have quietly started rolling out on Google’s news site in the past hour, ending a nearly seven-week absence stemming from contentious negotiations between the two parties . . .

Around Christmas, Google stopped adding new articles hosted on its news site in preparation for no new deal being reached when the contract was set to expire late last month. The two sides apparently agreed to continue negotiations as that deadline passed with no word either way.

Here’s Google’s official comment on the matter:

We have a licensing agreement with the Associated Press that permits us to host its content on Google properties such as Google News. The licensing agreement is the subject of ongoing discussion so we won’t be commenting further at this time.

Yahoo previously reached a deal to continue hosting AP content in Yahoo News.

See also: Where’s AP In Google News? Apparently In Limbo, As Contract Running Out

Related Topics: Google: News

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling