This is the web site for the Cincinnati Post's and Enquirer's parent company, and as such it is a pretty straight-forward newspaper site. Like most newspaper sites, there are a variety of factors that attract web traffic but one of the most important of them is researching past news. Instead of building its own search engine, Cincinnati. Com has partnered with Atomz to do the searching for it. Then when you pick a story to read, you go right back to the newspaper site.
News organizations have different theories on old news stories.
Others, like Cincinnati. I favor the free access approach, but opinions vary. The notable thing about this, however, is the use of the search engine, not how it treats the news archives. All the versions, including the free one, provide search statistics so you know what people are looking for. So if you're are looking for an easy no-hassle way to offer search capability on your site, this is a good choice.