Fears have surfaced that Google is changing its stance in the battle to stop Internet service providers (ISPs) from giving preferential treatment to those that pay.

The concerns surfaced amid reports that Google and Verizon are working out a deal to provide faster online traffic for a fee. The possible deal would be a blow to "net neutrality," a campaign that pushes for a state in which no content is given priority treatment online.

"The New York Times is quite simply wrong," a Google spokeswoman said in response to a report from the newspaper. "We have not had any conversations with Verizon about paying for carriage of Google or YouTube traffic. We remain as committed as we always have been to an open Internet."

Google has long been an advocate of net neutrality, which has also been a priority for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Negotiations with Verizon for the establishment of tiered pricing schemes for Internet data traffic would be a reversal of position.

Verizon, on the other other hand, says that it was collaborating with Google but it was not for tiered pricing. "Our goal is an Internet policy framework that ensures openness and accountability, and incorporates specific FCC authority while maintaining investment and innovation," said David Fish, Verizon's spokesman, in a blog post .

"To suggest this is a business arrangement between our companies is entirely incorrect."