Google Labs flipped the switch today on Google Fast Flip, an experiment certain to be blown out of proportion by some people because it involves publishers, shared revenue and Google (NSDQ: GOOG). Roughly three dozen publishers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and sibling Newsweek, Salon and The Daily Beast have agreed to let Google use their logos and graphical images of their web content, sort of screenshots plus, for a finite time in exchange for the chance to take part in a new user interface being offered on the web and on mobile, usage research and a share of revenue from contextual advertising. (Screenshots.) Fast Flip promises to provide access to content fast and in a way that will encourage people to read more than snippets.

But Martin Nisenholtz, the NYT‘s SVP of digital operations, cautions against reading too much into the revenue sharing—or the licensing relationship. “There’s no grand plan here, nothing more to this other than learning,” he told paidContent. “This is not about any kind of large strategic relationship issue.”  He admits the rev share is an unusual step, especially for Google winch has never shared revenue for news content: “They’re sharing revenue in a way they’ve never done before. That’s positive. But the driver behind our participation isn’t financial at this point.”

The real value, at least in the short term, says Nisenholtz, is is the feedback the NYT and others will get on user behavior. Running down the risks and the opportunities, he said, “It’s a much better branding opportunity for us, a much better picture of our look and feel. The downside is the consumer might stay on the page at Google and not click through.”

That’s a very real concern. Fast Flip offers multiple chances to move out of Google to the original site: clicking on the image, following text links to the original story, to the main site or the topic area on the originating site. But it’s designed to keep people on Google, scanning across the screen, moving to the right or left within the source (users can pick six to appear on a customized front page), topics or various sortings like popular, recent, most viewed.

Krishna Bharat, the engineer who created Google News, describes it on the Google News blog as “a new reading experience that combines the best elements of print and online articles” by making it fast and easy to look at media-rich pages without the load time. It also combines technologies: aggregation, search, personalization both formal and automated as a user spends time with the service. It is both a potential blessing—especially if it gains enough users to create a revenue stream instead of a trickle—and a potential curse that gives people access to the content without needing the originating site. (Bonus: Here’s an interview I did with Bharat about Google News for OJR in 2003.)

Other media outlets include: BBC News, Billboard, BusinessWeek, Center for Investigative Reporting, Center for Public Integrity, Christian Science Monitor, CosmoGirl, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire, Fast Company, FRONTLINE, Foreign Policy, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, House Beautiful, Marie Claire, Men’s Journal, National Geographic, National Review Online, Popular Mechanics, Quick & Simple, Redbook, SPIN, Salon, Seventeen, Slate, Smithsonian,TechCrunch, Technology Review, Teen, The Atlantic, The Daily Green, US Magazine, Veranda.