Flipboard has always had a somewhat double-edged relationship with the publishers who create the bulk of the content that flows through its apps: it theoretically gets those content creators a larger audience, and in some cases it does revenue-sharing advertising deals with them, but it also keeps a lot of the benefit for itself. That tension between Flipboard’s interests and the interests of content companies or media outlets was highlighted again on Tuesday, with the news that the company has launched a web version of its platform, which allows Flipboard content to be viewed through any web browser.

In the beginning, Flipboard offered publishers what seemed like a sweet deal: a magazine-style app that would allow their content to look great on an iPad or other mobile device, which saved them the cost and hassle of developing their own apps and/or offered a possible alternative to them, a special…