Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) just loves trying to get users of its services a more interactive experience. This past summer, Google announced a unique new offering where readers may be able to add their own two cents to a new story indexed by Google News if they find themselves quoted in the news.

The New York Times' Noam Cohen reminds us of Liebling's words: "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." Well, with this service, Google has been allowing comments to be 'paired' with news articles indexed by its News website. Google News currently tracks over 4,500 news sources globally and is now resurfacing in the news as it gains more traction -- and more watchers to what this could do to online news interaction.

The concept Google has here is brilliant and was overdue before its launch in mid-2007. The large number of quotes and sayings printed daily that are taken out of context for some publisher's agenda molds the minds of many millions of people who -- believe it or not -- believe everything they read. Pity. However, Google's attempt to level the playing field is an admirable one, and 2008 should see the uptake of this new "feature" turn online journalism more into a "blog-like" interaction between publisher and reader. Gone are the days of one-way journalism. Ask some newspapers about this.

The next step: Google needs to promote Google News as a one-stop source of news information regardless of location and language of the reader. Of course, Google is stressing that it is not in the business of journalism. Instead, it wants journalists and those used in news sources to embrace the feature even further to give differing perspectives on a news story, "across the political spectrum, geographically." Sounds familiar with Google's mantra of making information universally accessible. Currently, the English version of Google News is the only one that works with the new commenting service.