Newspapers are trying to keep up; they really are. On Tuesday, The New York Times announced it was partnering with Google Earth to provide a news layer for maps of the world. Today, the USA Today jumped on board the Internet express with a new service that allows AOL's IM users to search for USAToday.com's headlines.

Once logged into the AIM service, users should add "USA TODAY" to their AIM Buddy Lists. AIM users may input key words into their dialogue windows; when stories are published on USATODAY.com containing those words, AIM users will receive an instant message with a headline, article summary and link back to the complete story. Readers may also use the interactive service to browse and search current and archived USATODAY.com headlines.

After the jump, Rebecca and I discuss — via IM, of course.

[11:45] noah@mediabistro.com: so the usa today will let people search headlines via im. you ever gonna use it?
[11:47] rebecca@mediabistro.com: hell no
[11:47] rebecca@mediabistro.com: usa today is a cartoon, first of all
[11:47] noah@mediabistro.com: yeah -- i bet infographs don't work over im
[11:47] rebecca@mediabistro.com: why am i searching for headlines via im in a tabloid-sized comic strip