While I wouldn't pay if I were Google either, and I won't be subscribing to the NYT, I think it's Google that derives the most business value from being able to index NYT content: they get answers to give to their consumers, and they get something valuable for "free" that they sell a large volume of ads against.
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> They should start charging Google to index their content, not the readers.
Why would Google pay? There's very little in the NYT that is unique. How may people would switch to another search engine if Google ignored the NYT?
Google delivers eyeballs for free. The NYT is free to monetize said eyeballs as it sees fit.
While I wouldn't pay if I were Google either, and I won't be subscribing to the NYT, I think it's Google that derives the most business value from being able to index NYT content: they get answers to give to their consumers, and they get something valuable for "free" that they sell a large volume of ads against.