Hundreds of traditional publishers have erected paywalls around their content, but there is much to be gained by focusing monetization on individuals rather than an entire newspaper. Here are a few suggestions on how publishers could do this. Read more »
Some call it aggregation, while others call it copyright infringement or even theft. In a recent Twitter debate sparked by a post on the topic, Digiday’s editor-in-chief and Business Insider founder Henry Blodget traded theories. Read more »
Twitter is said to be looking at acquiring Bluefin Labs, which would fit the trajectory that the real-time information network has been on for some time. But is cozying up to traditional TV the only future for Twitter? Read more at GigaOM »
In our age of the dual television and smartphone screen, watching Twitter during live events has become intertwined with the actual watching of the broadcast itself. You can always DVR a show for later, but experiencing the Twitter jokes as they happen is something else entirely. Read more at GigaOM »
John Paton, the CEO of the Digital First Media chain, says that he doesn’t believe paywalls or subscription models are the solution to the industry’s problems, but he is experimenting with them anyway. Read more »
Until now, the Atlantic has been the poster child for traditional media entities that have succeeded online, but the New Yorker looks to be planning some major moves of its own to boost its online presence. Read more »
Hammered by declining print advertising revenue in much the same way newspapers have been, Time Inc. announced that it is laying off about 500 of its staff. But are the cuts the end, or just the beginning? Read more »
The Huffington Post’s new Conversations feature rounds up individual discussions taking place within comment sections and gives them a webpage of their own. It’s an attempt to fix comment chaos and could be an ad goldmine for AOL. Read more »
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer told attendees at the World Economic Forum that the key to the company’s future success is partnering with other players like Apple, Google and Facebook. But is that a future worth betting on? Read more at GigaOM »
In a leaked internal memo, Gawker Media founder Nick Denton says that what the network describes as “a new type of service journalism” — posts filled with affiliate links — will become a major focus for the company. Read more »
AdRoll, a firm that places “retargeted” ads on Facebook had a very good year. Does that provide any hints as to what Facebook will say about its ad earnings next week? Read more »
Facebook’s new social-graph search may look like a fairly boring feature of interest only to marketers, but the information it is able to reveal highlights how much we make public without even realizing it. Read more at GigaOM »
Paywalls are being erected at hundreds of newspapers around the world, but Guardian Media CEO Andrew Miller says his newspaper is still opposed to a subscription wall because it wants to expand its readership as much as possible. Read more »
Many publishers are trying to adapt to the way media works in a digital age, but some still see Google and the web as parasites — and Harper’s publisher seems determined to stay in the latter category. Read more »
The Atlantic caused a furore this week with a piece of sponsored content about the Church of Scientology, which raised a host of questions about the risks of “native advertising” — which many see as the future of online media. Read more »
The comments you leave on a website — are they garbage or a gold mine? Disqus says comments are more popular than you might think and has big plans to make money off them. Read more »
BuzzFeed has been criticized for taking images from other sites such as Reddit without giving credit to the original creator — something that the web’s “remix culture” is making more and more difficult. But BuzzFeed’s desire to create sponsored content makes it more important than ever. Read more »
The Associated Press is running sponsored tweets as part of a deal with Samsung during the Consumer Electronics Show. While this is allowed under Twitter’s rules, it also clearly threatens the network’s future as an advertising medium. How long will it allow this to continue? Read more »
The latest firmware update for Free’s set-top box adds a beta ad-blocking feature, which turns on by default when the user resets the device. If this was deliberate, it’s an interesting development for an ISP already embroiled in a net neutrality investigation. Read more »
BuzzFeed has built the site from just a repository for animated cat GIFs into a substantial media entity, and just raised a new round of financing — and Tumblr also has a fairly deep war-chest and dreams of expansion. And both are aiming at the same targets. Read more »
Blogging superstar Andrew Sullivan dropped a bombshell on Wednesday by saying he is leaving The Daily Beast and setting up his own subscription-based website. Can he become the first prominent success story in what some have called the move towards “post-industrial” journalism? Read more at GigaOM »
A comment about a Bloomberg story on the New York Times paywall started a debate about the positive and negative effects of paywalls that included some media industry luminaries such as the former CEO of Dow Jones and the former publisher of the Wall Street Journal. Read more at GigaOM »
Media ratings giant Nielsen is backing Pereg Ventures, a new venture capital firm that plans to invest in U.S. and Tel Aviv startups that help advertisers measure and market to audiences across multiple platforms. Read more at GigaOM »
The lead singer of the band Cracker is frustrated with people taking his music without permission. He thinks artists, industry and legitimate sellers should shame big brands into pulling their ads from pirate sites. Read more »
Mad Men are moving their money – the internet will take more advertising dollars than newspapers and magazines combined by 2015, according to latest forecasts. Read more »
TV advertising remains healthy, but platform operators want a bigger slice of the pie. Next year, some will introduce targeted advertising to their set top boxes, promising greater granularity and more effectiveness to marketers. Read more »
Tablet content is seeing higher engagement than that desktop web. But can tablets do the same for advertising, whose classic banner format is ‘cratering’? Read more »
A manifesto on the future of news published by Columbia University’s center for digital journalism argues that the news industry as we know it no longer exists, and existing players need to figure out how to adapt to the new realities of news, and quickly. Read more at GigaOM »
New forms of media are often disruptive to existing forms, but Twitter CEO Dick Costolo says that his network is complementary to traditional forms like television, because it adds the kind of real-time discussion we associate with the town square or the “pulse of the planet.” Read more at GigaOM »
Critics of the Washington Post say that the only approach that will solve the newspaper’s financial problems is to put up a paywall around their content like everyone else — but while that might buy time, it’s not a long-term strategy for new-media success. Read more at GigaOM »
A U.S. election bump lifts the newspaper above the venerable broadcaster, as the two British news orgs vie for American readers. But closer inspection shows the BBC remains the more popular brand. Read more »
Web publishers can buy tools that let them identify and segment their readers, and then combine that information with other customer data to offer fine-grained audience options to advertisers. As the ad market gets more demanding, the tools may become essential for some – but not all. Read more »
Included in the changes that Facebook recently announced to its privacy and governance policies was an admission that it aggregates and shares data on user activity with advertisers — and Facebook says it plans do so not just inside the network but on external websites as well. Read more at GigaOM »
The industry has been ravaged by cutbacks and an ad downturn. Now three UK local news publishers confirm they are coming together to improve digital news. But can they deliver on the promise? Read more »
Apple and Samsung are both taking a greater share of mobile ad impressions from RIM and Nokia, but Cupertino’s devices are gobbling faster than Korea’s, according to research. Read more »
The Washington Post’s new editor, former Boston Globe editor Marty Baron, faces a mountain of problems at the newspaper, which has seen circulation and revenues fall dramatically. Here are some areas he needs to focus on in order to turn the sinking ship around. Read more at GigaOM »
Despite that famous 1996 declaration, many publishers have struggled to find effective consumer offerings online. But now a perfect storm of new models and prospects gives renewed confidence for many. Read more »
A media CEO reminded people that, despite new internet distribution platforms, content owners remain in the drivers seat. He played down the idea of “cord cutters” but did acknowledge the emergence of people who have never had cable at all. Read more »
As web advertising faces challenges, how can an operating system and a VoIP service show more ads whilst not disrupting users? By threading them so deeply in to the technologies that no-one notices, Microsoft and Skype say. Read more »
Some prominent users of Facebook such as billionaire sports-team owner Mark Cuban are complaining that the social network wants to charge them to reach their users with marketing messages — but shouldn’t it be fairly obvious that this was part of Facebook’s plan all along? Read more at GigaOM »
