Google is putting millions of magazine back issues on the Internet. “With titles as diverse as New York, Popular Mechanics, and Ebony,” exclaims Google blog, which then goes on to mention New York again just a few sentences later. Hopefully editor Adam Moss didn’t have to pay per name-drop.

We wonder how much cash Google paid to have the magazine rights bought and put online, or if the titles did it for free publicity and the benefit of not having to put the issues up themselves? Because as Life and People know, putting up backlogs of jpegs is hard work. You actually have to pay an employee to do it, even though “money” and “magazine industry” are becoming closer to an oxymoron every day.