In its continuing quest to index more and more information, Google on Wednesday introduced Google News Archive Search, which aims to make searchable thousands of newspapers, magazines and publications. Some of the material dates back to the 1700s, the company says.

Unlike the scanning of books, the inclusion of periodicals into search engines is something the industry has been pushing for. Much of their content is considered part of the "dark Web," meaning modern search engines cannot index the material due to their structure or design.

To ease scouring through articles, search results can be arranged by the standard method, or through a timeline. Using that timeline, searches for a subject like "Bill Clinton" would first show the year 1992, when Clinton began to appear in national news frequently during his initial presidential run.

Both free and for-pay services would be included in the index, although Google says it will not make any money through the service. While the total number of publications available were not disclosed, partners include the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and Time.

Whether or not publications make their content available for free is up to them. For example, Time will likely make its entire catalog back to 1923 available at no cost, whereas the New York Times and Washington Post would redirect users to a site where they can purchase the individual article.

Analysts suspect that Google's News Archive Search could eventually expand into video, allowing users to search for video clips of major news stories over the years.