Google is testing a search service that will access "Deep Web" content, providing searchers with free previews of restricted or subscription content, reports BetaNews (via paidcontent). The service is being tested with a few sites, which are under confidentiality agreements, but apparently one of them is singing like a canary. "Premium content will be indexed and tagged as paid, and will be displayed in a special content area on the right side of Google's search results, underneath the AdSense advertising links," according to the report.

Some paid articles will apparently be "first click free" to Google searchers and will appear among the "natural" search results - if the content publisher agrees to do so when Google is the referrer.

Yahoo announced its subscription-content search effort last month. In contrast, Google has kept its efforts shrouded in secrecy, and a spokesperson would not comment on "speculation."