January 2010 - Posts - NAA Digital Edge Blog

Digital Edge News Update: The iPad, Newspapers and Ads; PRESSTIME Update

Editor's Note

Beginning Wednesday, Feb. 3, NAA will launch PRESSTIME Update, a weekly electronic newsletter designed to provide members with the information they need to achieve success in today's media environment - from legislative news that affects your bottom line to advertising and audience trends. The new publication will be delivered each Wednesday and will combine elements from all of our newsletters - including the Digital Edge, Growing Audience E-Alert and Public Policy News.

Subscribers to this newsletter automatically will be subscribed to the PRESSTIME Update. While we will not continue to publish the Digital Edge News Update (formerly the Online Publishing Update) as a 3x/week newsletter, we will continue to post discipline-specific items of interest to the Digital Edge Blog.

Thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy PRESSTIME Update.

Hype Over, iPad Presents Opportunities for Newspapers

For all its hype, the Apple iPad will not be the savior of the newspaper and magazine industries. However, it does present some interesting opportunities for publishers.

That's the consensus among dozens of technology and media reporters following Apple's debut of the iPad tablet device earlier this week. Read more in NAA's Digital Edge Blog.

Source: NAA

Device Revives Gaget Debate: One Thing Well, or All Things in One? (The Wall Street Journal)

Who Will Buy the iPad? (CNet)

Apple May Sell 1 Million to 5 Million iPads in First Year (Apple Insider)

Google to Launch Location-Aware Mobile Search Ads

Google has launched location-aware mobile search ads, allowing a person who searches for a product on their GPS-enabled smart phone to click and call a business or see local ads based on their search. According to the Official Google Blog, "if a store or restaurant has multiple locations, you'll be calling the nearest one, and not making reservations in some other city."

Source: The Official Google Blog

See also:

Giving Mobile Ads a Makeover (The Wall Street Journal)

Why Some Online Ads Don't Work

Sometimes online ads don't work well because they are too complex, ugly or difficult to read. "Most people aren't as interested in your products and services as you are; avoid the details. To interest them, attract their eye with uncluttered visual displays and concise, to-the-point headlines and body copy. In short: Keep it simple," wrote advertising effectiveness consultant Philip Sawyer in an AdAge column.

Source: AdAge

Quote of the Day: Focusing on the Content, Not on the Device

"With the evolution of e-readers and tablets, readers will have exponentially more choices for content packaged in more ways than ever before. While this might offer grand potential for news distribution and commerce, those that don't make quality and unique content their priority are likely to find that the technology will only hasten their demise as readers leave for all their newly discovered choices."

-- Sean Reily, L.A. Times director of editorial finance and current Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow, in a blog entry.

Note: Sean Riley will be speaking at NAA's mediaXchange conference in a special session on newspaper e-reader business models. You can register to attend and learn more about mediaXchange at mediaxchange.naa.org.

Have you registered for mediaXchange yet?

mediaXchange is an interesting, cost-efficient way to learn about new revenue opportunities and network with your newspaper media peers.

In addition to connecting with the advertisers above, mediaXchange is your chance to meet new people and learn about opportunities that will boost your newspaper's digital media revenue. The trip will pay for itself in the knowledge you gain!

mediaXchange has lots of programming for the digital media executive!

Digital Media session topics include:

Opportunities with E-Readers and Other Emerging Devices
Digital Media Revenue Ideas Session
10 Technology Trends
Growing Revenue through Mobile Innovations
Leveraging Social Media Solutions

Hear from Kodak's Jeff Hazelet!
Jeff Hazelet is responsible for Kodak's worldwide marketing operations, including the design and implementation of all marketing strategies, investments, policies, and processes.

Kodak is one of the many companies that have successfully navigated a major transition from a print to a digital world. According to a recent AdAge.com article, Kodak tapped "influential bloggers, Twitterers and Facebookaholics to move the needle" for its recent "Time to Smile" branding campaign.

mediaXchange is April 11 - 14 in Orlando. Register for mediaXchange today!

Posted Jan 29 2010, 08:59 AM by Beth Lawton with 5 comment(s)

Filed under: Mobile, Advertising, e-readers

Hype Over, Apple iPad Presents Opportunities for Newspapers

For all its hype, the Apple iPad will not be the savior of the newspaper and magazine industries. However, it does present some interesting opportunities for publishers.

That's the consensus among dozens of technology and media reporters this morning following yesterday's debut of the Apple iPad tablet device.

The unfortunately named iPad is like a bigger, souped-up iPhone (without the phone or camera). The iPad features a browser (Safari), photos, video, maps, e-mail and a calendar; it runs iPhone applications, including the new iBook store app; it has a wireless connection and a contract-free 3G option. The New York Times, which developed a new app for the device, took part in the debut event yesterday. (Get started: Here's the software development kit.)

It didn't take long for reporters to call it a Kindle killer. Earlier this week (in a smartly-timed release), a University of Georgia study gave Amazon's Kindle e-reader low ratings as a newspaper-reading device, Editor & Publisher reported. This isn't a surprise, really, since the Kindle does not have a color screen, dynamic layout, etc.

Although the iPad (and some other e-reader/tablet-like devices) promise better experiences than the Kindle, the real potential here lies in the fact that most things Apple touches turn to gold. This device could put new life into the tablet market the same way the iPod did for MP3 players. The iPad, just by existing, may spur competitive innovation. (The announcement itself was so hot that Twitter slowed down and CoverIt Live was overloaded.)

For newspapers, this puts on some pressure to develop applications or sites and features that will keep consumers engaged with the newspaper's content on this new device. It also offers a chance for newspapers to show readers how forward-thinking and innovative they can be on any platform -- something many newspapers have shown through their impressive mobile and online video efforts in the past few years.

As many analysts and reporters have pointed out, there are shortfalls to the iPad. A chief concern among advertising executives (and therefore for newspaper execs) is that the device doesn't support Flash. This morning, AdAge reported that "either means advertisers will need to stop building ads in Flash (no chance) or publishers will need to build app versions of their publications upon the iPad SDK (software development kit), resulting in a lot more work, a lot more time, a lot more resources." It is unclear how much subscription-related revenue newspapers will be able to get from iPad readers.

Here's a roundup of some worthwhile reading about how the iPad will impact the newspaper and magazine publishing industries:

Wall Street -- Not Apple -- May Offer the Best E-Reader Direction (RJI)

What Apple's iPad Means for Journalism Design, Multimedia & Business (Poynter)

How Media Can Profit from the iPad (Reflections of a Newsosaur)

Apple iPad Creates Opportunities, Not Solutions, for Publishers (Poynter)

Even Apple Can't Save Newspapers (MediaPost)

How to Know if the Apple Tablet Will Save Print (Gawker)

For Media Industry, a Mixed Bag in iPad (The Wall Street Journal)

With Its Tablet, Apple Blurs Line Between Devices (The New York Times)

P.S. Do I want one? Yes. Am I going to get one? Probably not until version 2.0 comes out. Besides, if Apple history repeats itself, the price will drop in a few months.

P.P.S. Interested in more about the e-reader market? Go to www.naa.org/e-readers. Also view this archived NAA Webinar about application development.

Posted Jan 28 2010, 11:42 AM by Beth Lawton with 6 comment(s)

Filed under: Mobile, Advertising, e-readers

Digital Edge News Update: Apple's Tablet; Newsday's Pay Wall

Newsday's Pay Wall: 3 Months Later...

Newsday's online pay wall isn't bringing in a lot of new revenue. The New York Observer reported just 35 people are paying $5 per week to access Newsday.com content.

However, the goal of the project, according to Newsday, was not to increase revenue or sell online subscriptions. Paid Content reported , "the real emphasis has been on creating additional value for the services Cablevision customers already get and improved engagement with local subscribers." Cablevision subscribers get free access to all Newsday.com content - a major factor in the whether the pay wall can be described as "successful."

Sources: The New York Observer, Paid Content

More on paid content:

Nieman Lab Blog Posts Paid Content Calculator (Nieman Journalism Lab)

What Apple's Tablet Could Mean for Newspapers

Until at least 10 a.m. PST today, the Apple tablet is still just a rumor, as Nashua Telegraph Online Managing Editor Damon Kiesow reminded us all this morning in a Poynter round-up:

"According to published reports, the forthcoming Apple tablet will: have a color touch screen, work on 3G and Wifi networks, run a version of the iPhone operating system, save the media industry, cure cancer and be announced at an event today at 10 a.m. PST. Only the timing of the event is confirmed by Apple."

The yet-to-be-official device has breathed life into the tablet industry and has media publishers and developers scrambling to figure out how - and whether - this will impact print content consumption the way the iPod did music.

"With the widely anticipated introduction of a tablet computer at an event here on Wednesday morning, Apple may be giving the media industry a kind of time machine - a chance to undo mistakes of the past," The New York Times reported in an article headlined, "With Apple Tablet, Print Media Hope for a Payday."

Poynter will post a list of live blogs, Tweets and other coverage during Apple's event today.

More on the tablet and other e-readers:

Will Newspapers Cash in on Apple's Tablet? (The Editors Weblog)

As a Newspaper Device, Amazon's Kindle Gets Poor Consumer Reviews (Editor & Publisher)

Apple Tablet Can't Save Print on Its Own (Reuters)

Apple Seeks to Avoid Past Tablet Flops (The Wall Street Journal)

Lessons to Learn from Tablets Past (CNet)

New York Times Reportedly Developing Large-Screen App with Video (The Los Angeles Times)

Hearst-Backed Skiff E-Reader to Debut This Year (Crain's New York Business)

Canada's Metro News and FourSquare Partner

Canada's Metro News will be adding location-specific editorial content to geo-social network FourSquare, the newspaper announced. "People who choose to follow Metro on Foursquare will then receive alerts when they're close to one of those locations. For example, someone close to a restaurant that Metro has reviewed would receive a "tip" about that restaurant and the have ability to link through to the full Metro review on metronews.ca," according to a Metro News article.

Source: Metro News

Also see:

My advice to the New York Times? Copy Foursquare (eMedia Vitals

Engagement on Social Networks a Top Priority for Marketers

Marketers will be looking to invest more in social networks and applications to reach out to consumers, according to a study from the Society of Digital Agencies, eMarketer reported. More than 85 percent of survey respondents said social networks and digital infrastructure were either a "top priority" or "important." More than 75 percent said search optimization was a "top priority" or "important."

Source: eMarketer

State of the Union: YouTube Lets Citizens Submit Questions for Obama Interview

YouTube will broadcast President Barack Obama's State of the Union address live on Citizentube tonight, and ask viewers to submit questions through a Google Moderator series. Citizentube will host an interview with Obama next week with viewer's top-rated questions, MediaPost reported.

Source: MediaPost

NAA Foundation News Challenge Deadline: March 1

News Challenge, an innovative training session for upper-level college students interested in digital media, takes place the first week of June. The NAA Foundation pays all costs for participating students. Program objectives are to give students a sense of the digital and multimedia opportunities at newspapers and to interest them in working for the industry.

If you have any ties with local colleges or know of students working part-time or as interns at your newspapers, please encourage them to apply. The deadline to apply is March 1, 2010.

Snapshot from the Edge: Newspapers Test Google Wave

As more newspaper editors get invitations to Google Wave, NAA decided to take a look at how media companies are experimenting with the technology.

In a new Digital Edge article released Friday afternoon, Mark Toner wrote:

As Google Wave ends its first year of existence, we have learned two things: First, there's no shortage of critics who argue that the Google product, may be a technology searching for a purpose. Second, the term "beta" applied to a Google product means just that for a change. But newspapers should not wait to experiment with it, given its potential to shape conversations both within and beyond news organizations.

Have you registered for mediaXchange yet?

mediaXchange is an interesting, cost-efficient way to learn about new revenue opportunities and network with your newspaper media peers.

In addition to connecting with the advertisers above, mediaXchange is your chance to meet new people and learn about opportunities that will boost your newspaper's digital media revenue. The trip will pay for itself in the knowledge you gain!

mediaXchange has lots of programming for the digital media executive!

Digital Media session topics include:

Opportunities with E-Readers and Other Emerging Devices
Digital Media Revenue Ideas Session
10 Technology Trends
Growing Revenue through Mobile Innovations
Leveraging Social Media Solutions

Hear from Kodak's Jeff Hazelet!
Jeff Hazelet is responsible for Kodak's worldwide marketing operations, including the design and implementation of all marketing strategies, investments, policies, and processes.

Kodak is one of the many companies that have successfully navigated a major transition from a print to a digital world. According to a recent AdAge.com article, Kodak tapped "influential bloggers, Twitterers and Facebookaholics to move the needle" for its recent "Time to Smile" branding campaign.

mediaXchange is April 11 - 14 in Orlando. Register for mediaXchange today!

Posted Jan 27 2010, 09:13 AM by Beth Lawton with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: Mobile, Advertising, marketing, paid content, e-readers

Digital Edge News Update: How Journalists Use Social Networks; Knight Reports on Journalism Contests

Survey: How Journalists Use Social Networks

In addition to using social media to promote newspaper content, many journalists are conducting some story research through blogs and social networks. A survey of 371 journalists by Cision and George Washington University's Don Bates revealed "89 percent said they look to blogs for story research, 65 percent go to social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, while 52 percent check out what's happening on Twitter and other microblogging sites," Poynter reported.

Source: Poynter

Note: In a series of articles released in November, the Newspaper Association of America took a close look at how newspapers are using Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and social bookmarking sites.

Time Spent, Audience on Social Sites Both Increase

Web users worldwide spent about 5.5 hours on social networking sites last month - an increase of 82 percent over a year ago, according to new data from Nielsen Online. The worldwide audience for social networking has increased 50 percent in the past three years, MediaPost reported.

Sources: MediaPost, Nielsen Online

Knight News Challenge Releases Report on Journalism Contests

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which runs the highly competitive Knight News Challenge, has released a report analyzing media innovation contests from the past four years. Journalism innovation contests like the Knight News Challenge have proliferated in the past several years as a tool for newspapers and other media outlets to encourage creative problem solving.

"We hope it will be a useful resource for organizations that are designing and implementing contests to spur innovation, as well as for nonprofits and individuals looking for funding opportunities in the area of media, information and communication," wrote Gary Kebbel, Knight's Journalism Program director, and Mayur Patel, director of strategic assessment and impact, in the introduction to the report.

Source: Knight Foundation

Rumored Apple Tablet to Impact Development of Apps

The rumored Apple tablet device, which the company might announce on Wednesday, will most likely run applications that were originally designed for the iPhone. However, developers are already gearing up to design new apps that take advantage of the tablet's larger screen, The New York Times reported. One developer said the larger screen "could mean entirely new user interfaces, screen layouts, instruments, contraptions and games."

Source: The New York Times

More on application development:

App Usage to Soar in 2010 (eMarketer)

Big Boost is Forecast for App Stores (eMarketer)

Financial Times to Launch Blackberry App and Micropayments (The Editors Weblog)

Web Presence Outlives People, Creating Business Niche

New companies are popping up online to store people's passwords and other personal information that can be accessible to others after that person dies, The Washington Post reported.

As more of our lives - financial, personal and otherwise - are conducted online, accessing someone's Web presence after their death such services "help denizens of the digital world grapple with the thorny issues raised after your physical being leaves behind only its virtual reality," according to the article. "Internet experts and estate planners say a cybercrisis is brewing because popular Internet services have policies that, barring an order from a court, forbid accessing or transferring accounts -- including recovering money -- unless someone has the password."

Source: The Washington Post

comScore's New Hybrid Method, Costs Bring Controversy

Web measurement and research company comScore has been rolling out a "hybrid" measurement method combining server-side and panel-based information, but the plans turned controversial over the weekend. One CEO slammed comScore for allegedly charging a high price to participating in the hybrid model if a company is not a comScore member, MediaPost reported.

Saturday, comScore posted a long blog post explaining the method and the associated costs.

Source: MediaPost

NAA Foundation News Challenge Deadline: March 1

News Challenge, an innovative training session for upper-level college students interested in digital media, takes place the first week of June. The NAA Foundation pays all costs for participating students. Program objectives are to give students a sense of the digital and multimedia opportunities at newspapers and to interest them in working for the industry.

If you have any ties with local colleges or know of students working part-time or as interns at your newspapers, please encourage them to apply. The deadline to apply is March 1, 2010.

Snapshot from the Edge: Newspapers Test Google Wave

As more newspaper editors get invitations to Google Wave, NAA decided to take a look at how media companies are experimenting with the technology.

In a new Digital Edge article released Friday afternoon, Mark Toner wrote:

As Google Wave ends its first year of existence, we have learned two things: First, there's no shortage of critics who argue that the Google product, may be a technology searching for a purpose. Second, the term "beta" applied to a Google product means just that for a change. But newspapers should not wait to experiment with it, given its potential to shape conversations both within and beyond news organizations.

Posted Jan 25 2010, 07:46 AM by Beth Lawton with 5 comment(s)

Filed under: Twitter, Mobile, blogs, online audience, Facebook

Digital Edge News Update: Reactions to NYT Online Payment Plans; Seattle Times Looks at Attitudes Toward Contextual Ads

Reactions to NYTimes.com's Pay Wall Announcement

Wednesday morning, New York Times Co. executives announced the newspaper will implement a metered payment system online in January 2011. The newspaper will spend this year figuring out the details, including price. NYTimes.com visitors "will be allowed to view a certain number of articles free each month; to read more, the reader must pay a flat fee for unlimited access. Subscribers to the print newspaper, even those who subscribe only to the Sunday paper, will receive full access to the site without any additional charge," according to a New York Times article.

Newspaper executives Martin Nisenholtz and Janet Robinson answered questions from NYTimes.com readers this week online. The memo to the newspaper's staff says, in part, "We are doing so because we believe that a second revenue stream will be an important part of our future. While digital advertising will continue to be the major contributor to our success on the Web, we expect that online subscription revenue will improve our ability to grow an important part of this business."

Reactions to the announcement from journalists, industry pundits and others (even within The New York Times) were swift and opinionated. Here are links to some of the reactions:

Charging for Web Access Makes Business Sense for New York Times (Rick Edmonds, Poynter)

Dialing in a Plan: The Times Installs a Meter on Its Future (David Carr, New York Times)

NYTimes.com Meter Could Alienate Valuable Readers (Nat Ives, AdAge)

The New York Times' Online Meter Will Hardly Move the Needle (Erick Schonfeld, TechCrunch)

Blodget's Thoughts on This Paywall Decision by The New York Times (Henry Blodget, Business Insider)

Pay meter works at FT, but can it help NYT? (Alan Mutter, Newsosaur)

New York Times Looks to Charge Online Readers, Again (Bill Mitchell, Bill Grueskin on the NewsHour)

* Note: The Newspaper Association of America last year published a series of articles and analysis on newspaper online paid content. Access the series at www.naa.org/paidcontent.

Apple Speaking with Publishers about New Device; Kindle to Open App Store

Apple has been talking with publishers and other executives at several companies about its new tablet device, which most people expect Apple will debut at a Jan. 27 event. The device could ship to consumers this spring or early summer, The New York Times reported.

Meanwhile, the Amazon Kindle e-reader will be letting people create "active content" (similar to an app) for the device and keep 70 percent of the revenue from app sales. Amazon already has released a software development kit to a limited number of people.

Source: The New York Times

Also see:

Apple Sees New Money in Old Media (The Wall Street Journal)

Could Verizon Handle Apple Tablet Traffic? (The Wall Street Journal)

Yankee Group: U.S. E-book Reader Market to Hit $2.5 Billion in 2013 (Digital Media Wire)

E&P Report: Seattle Times Looks at Ads, Ethics and How Readers Perceive Contextual Ads

The Seattle Times took a look at how readers react to contextual advertising and learned that readers are more accepting of it on "soft" news stories.

Editor & Publisher reported that "...the type of story the ad appeared next to mattered greatly. The respondents' tolerance of contextual ads increased with softer content, such as news that involved sports, entertainment and travel. When a relevant ad ran next to a hard news article, respondents' eyebrows shot up. Too many contextual ads surrounding news stories also made readers suspicious."

The Seattle Times conducted the study with a research grant from the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

Source: Editor & Publisher

NewsCred Shifts Focus to Customizable News

NewsCred is now giving users a way to build customizable news sites, TechCrunch reported. Users can choose topics and categories, and NewsCred aggregates relevant stories. In addition, users can write their own opinions and soon will be able to profit from ads.

"With NewsCred Pro, you can host your paper at a personal domain, run your own advertising on the page, eliminate NewsCred branding, and further customize the layout and newspaper template. Together, these features could allow you to build a Huffington Post-style news hub, complete with your own opinion pieces, focused on whatever topic you wanted," TechCrunch reported.

This is a complete change in focus for NewsCred, which launched in 2008 with an algorithm and user voting to rank news sources on a credibility index.

Source: TechCrunch

Check In Here: FourSquare for Newspapers; Yelp Gets Location-Aware

FourSquare, which has been described as a location-based Twitter-like social network, may have uses for journalists after all.

"I see a lot of potential for it in terms of journalism education, as it offers a new way to tell stories and add to the record," wrote Jeremy Littau , a former newspaper reporter and now a professor at Lehigh University. "Did a local business fail a health inspection recently? Right now we put that in the newspaper, which people are reading less, or on a Web site, where people don't know how to find it among mountains of information. There is value in journalists adding news and verified information to the record (including links for more information) that would enhance a person's knowledge and ability to experience (or avoid) a place."

Review site Yelp.com has added a series of location-based features for its iPhone application, including "check-in" information. A user who checks-in to a location regularly may add credibility to his or her review. It is also seen as a competitive move against FourSquare, according to Mashable.

Yelp will also be debuting augmented reality features for the iPhone soon, CNet's News.com reported.

Sources: @JeremyLittau, Mashable, CNet

NAA Foundation News Challenge Deadline: March 1

News Challenge, an innovative training session for upper-level college students interested in digital media, takes place the first week of June. The NAA Foundation pays all costs for participating students. Program objectives are to give students a sense of the digital and multimedia opportunities at newspapers and to interest them in working for the industry.

If you have any ties with local colleges or know of students working part-time or as interns at your newspapers, please encourage them to apply. The deadline to apply is March 1, 2010.

Snapshot from the Edge: Newspapers Test Google Wave

As more newspaper editors get invitations to Google Wave, NAA decided to take a look at how media companies are experimenting with the technology.

In a new Digital Edge article released Friday afternoon, Mark Toner wrote:

As Google Wave ends its first year of existence, we have learned two things: First, there's no shortage of critics who argue that the Google product, may be a technology searching for a purpose. Second, the term "beta" applied to a Google product means just that for a change. But newspapers should not wait to experiment with it, given its potential to shape conversations both within and beyond news organizations.

Posted Jan 22 2010, 08:55 AM by Beth Lawton with 3 comment(s)

Filed under: Advertising, UGC, paid content, e-readers

Digital Edge News Update: NYTimes.com Announces Pay Wall Plans; Outsell on Aggregators and Paid Content

Update 10:06 a.m. -- New York Times Announces Pay Wall Plans for 2011

The New York Times announced this morning it would be implementing a metered pay wall system on its Web site in 2011. According to the newspaper's press release, the plans "will offer users free access to a set number of articles per month and then charge users once they exceed that number. This will enable NYTimes.com to create a second revenue stream and preserve its robust advertising business. It will also provide the necessary flexibility to keep an appropriate ratio between free and paid content and stay connected to a search-driven Web."

See the New York Times pay wall press release for more information.

Source: The New York Times

Outsell: News Users' Report Focuses on Aggregators, Paid Content

About 44 percent of Google News users just scan the headlines but never click through to a story, according to research firm Outsell's third annual News Users' Report. The report is based on a survey of more than 2,700 U.S. news consumers.

Other data points (from Editor & Publisher and TechCrunch):

Newspaper Web sites have increased their share of people going online for local news. Newspaper sites' share is up to 17 percent from 8 percent three years ago.

6 percent of those surveyed went to newspaper Web sites "first thing" in 2009, up from 3 percent in 2006.

10 percent of news consumers say they are willing to pay for a print newspaper subscription to gain online access.
75 percent say they would seek another source of local online news if the local newspaper required a paid online subscription.

See Outsell's press release for more information.

Sources: TechCrunch, Editor & Publisher

Gartner: Revenue from Mobile Apps to Increase 50 Percent This Year

Revenue from mobile applications will grow to $6.8 billion this year, up from $4.2 billion last year worldwide, according to a Gartner forecast. Just a fraction of that ($600 million) will come from in-app advertising, MediaPost reported. Advertising growth will pick up in the next few years, possibly to one-quarter of mobile app revenues by 2013.

Note: A few of Gartner's claims about Apple's share of app downloads are being questioned.

Source: MediaPost

iPhones May Get Location-Based Ad Capabilities

Apple may be adding location-aware advertising capabilities into the iPhone's operating system, Fast Company reported. The clues are in a patent filing related to how the iPhone will handle contacts.

"Apple's idea is to allow new app icons to pop up on screen under the control of a nearby system or device. Essentially the iPhone would broadcast a Wi-fi or Bluetooth signal that it was capable of receiving an incoming app, and the download and installation would happen automatically. According to the patent details the icon needn't even be a permanent thing--it could be temporary, and it could be location-sensitive," according to Fast Company.

Source: Fast Company

Newspaper Partnerships with News Start-Ups Raise Vetting Questions

Established news organizations are increasingly establishing content partnerships with online news start-ups, but sometimes the trustworthiness of the partner's information is debatable, according to The New York Times. Richard Perez-Pena reported that analysts have said "there will be groups or individuals with particular slants offering to fill the reporting gaps for traditional news organizations - and the more of them there are, the harder it will be to perceive their agendas."

Source: The New York Times

NYTimes.com to Build Pay Wall Soon... Maybe

New York Magazine reported this weekend that the New York Times Web site will soon be behind a "metered" pay wall. The magazine reported that Arthur Sulzberger Jr. "appears close to announcing that the paper will begin charging for access to its Web site" and that the model will be similar to that of the Financial Times, where readers can read a few stories before being asked to pay.

However, the NYTPicker blog said New York Magazine's report wasn't a scoop at all, but just a "mish-mash of previously-reported stories, along with some carefully-hedged speculation about the future."

How The New York Times Should Charge For Content (Paid Content)

See the update at the top of this post.

Google Expanding Local Business Reviews

Google Maps is adding more reviews to its Places Pages, including taking content from local blogs, portals and news sites, Search Engine Land reported. The reviews are appearing on Google's Places Pages.

Source: Search Engine Land

NAA Foundation News Challenge Deadline: March 1

News Challenge, an innovative training session for upper-level college students interested in digital media, takes place the first week of June. The NAA Foundation pays all costs for participating students. Program objectives are to give students a sense of the digital and multimedia opportunities at newspapers and to interest them in working for the industry. If you have any ties with local colleges or know of students working part-time or as interns at your newspapers, please encourage them to apply. The deadline to apply is March 1, 2010.

Snapshot from the Edge: Newspapers Test Google Wave

As more newspaper editors get invitations to Google Wave, NAA decided to take a look at how media companies are experimenting with the technology.

In a new Digital Edge article released Friday afternoon, Mark Toner wrote:

As Google Wave ends its first year of existence, we have learned two things: First, there's no shortage of critics who argue that the Google product, may be a technology searching for a purpose. Second, the term "beta" applied to a Google product means just that for a change. But newspapers should not wait to experiment with it, given its potential to shape conversations both within and beyond news organizations.

Posted Jan 20 2010, 09:08 AM by Beth Lawton with 4 comment(s)

Filed under: Mobile, Advertising, online-only, paid content

Snapshot from the Edge: Newspapers Test Google Wave

As more newspaper editors get invitations to Google Wave, NAA decided to take a look at how media companies are experimenting with the technology.

In a new Digital Edge article released Friday afternoon, Mark Toner wrote:

As Google Wave ends its first year of existence, we have learned two things: First, there's no shortage of critics who argue that the Google product, may be a technology searching for a purpose. Second, the term "beta" applied to a Google product means just that for a change. But newspapers should not wait to experiment with it, given its potential to shape conversations both within and beyond news organizations.

Read more about how publications like the Seattle Times and Chicago Tribune's RedEye are using Google Wave in "Snapshot from the Edge: Newspapers Test Google Wave."

Plus, tell us how your newspaper is using Google Wave by clicking on "comment" below.

Posted Jan 19 2010, 02:36 PM by Beth Lawton with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: online comments, Google

Digital Edge News Update: Tech Key in Haitian Earthquake Coverage; E&P Resumes Operations

Twitter, Texts, Video all Key in Haitian Earthquake Coverage

Digital media has been paramount in coverage of the earthquake that devastated Haiti earlier this week. Many newspapers are aggregating Tweets, text messages, mobile devices photos and video and more as part of their ongoing coverage, Columbia Journalism Review reported. Several news organizations used Skype for video calls.

PCWorld reported, "What's not clear, however, is whether Haitians are using these technologies to communicate and help each other. From what I've seen so far, the use of tools like Twitter and Facebook are more helpful for delivering news about Haiti to the outside world instead of aiding those directly affected by the crisis-a recurring theme that we've already seen play out in places like Iran and India."

However, mobile has been important in coordinating relief and donations. The Red Cross and other organizations have raised millions of dollars in relief funds through text-messaging, The New York Times reported. Facebook also activated its Global Relief network to collect donations.

Sources: Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Times, Mashable

Editor & Publisher Resumes Operations in Print, Online

Editor & Publisher, which shut down at the end of 2009, is resuming operations. The Duncan McIntosh Co., which primarily publishes boating magazines, has purchased the publication from The Nielsen Co. Chas McKeown will continue as publisher, and Mark Fitzgerald will be editor.

Source: Editor & Publisher

AP, Yahoo Close to a New Content Deal

The Associated Press and Yahoo are close to working out a deal that may "impose tighter restrictions and potentially a higher price tag on AP stories distributed on Yahoo's news site, people familiar with the matter said," according to The Wall Street Journal. Neither the AP nor Yahoo would comment.

"The deal, expected to be reached in the next few weeks, could begin to resolve an increasingly urgent issue in the media industry: how news organizations deal with the major Internet portals, which some publishers say unfairly profit from their work and cost them tens of millions of dollars in revenue," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Quote of the Day: Fidler on What Consumers Expect from E-Readers, Tablets

"Any device that does not allow for easy Internet access, whether that is a tablet or an e-reader, does not have much chance of success. We expect to be connected, and our transactions are dependent on that."

-- Roger Fidler, program director for digital publishing at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, in a Society for News Design feature story.

New York Times Claims 99-cent Newspaper Apps Are Not Authentic

Two New York Times iPhones apps have appeared in the Apple iTunes store for 99-cents each, but the New York Times did not create those apps, the newspaper says. As of earlier this week, the applications were ranked in the top 20 in the news category.

In general, Apple says it will remove applications that are under dispute until the parties reach a resolution, but All Things D reported media companies have had mixed results getting Apple to remove such applications.

Source: All Things D

Twitter Paid Accounts Coming

Paid Twitter accounts are still a work in progress, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone told Silicon Alley Insider. The primary reason: Not enough staff. The company is hiring.

Source: Silicon Alley Insider

New York Times Opens Self-Serve Real Estate Service

NYTimes.com has opened a Real Estate Agent Solutions platform that lets real estate agents post and manage ads at a lower cost, Paid Content reported. The system is built off of the small business ad platform that debuted last year.

Source: PaidContent

Also see:

Borrell: Online Real Estate Advertising to Decline (MediaPost)

Still Available!

2010 NAA Planbook: Your "How-To" Guide to Improving Advertising Effectiveness and ROI

Included for 2010: new research on the value of newspaper media to advertisers, and how America shops and spends; a competitive media section; increased emphasis on digital product advantages; and more!

Don't Wait - Order Today! Planbooks are available now.

Order yours at www.naa.org/planbook.

Do you have comments on today's news items? We welcome your comments on the Digital Edge blog! Click on "comment" below!

Posted Jan 15 2010, 09:10 AM by Beth Lawton with no comments

Filed under: Twitter, Mobile, Advertising, e-readers, Facebook

ITZBelden Releases Report on Online Paid Content, E-Editions

The Financial Times has emerged as one of the most successful newspapers to navigate the transition from a traditional, ad-supported business model to a model incorporating paid content and other diverse revenue streams.

"FT.com does not limit access to any particular piece of content, nor does it identify some as free and others as requiring payment. Rather than charging for content, the FT charges based on frequency of use. If you are an infrequent visitor to the site, you may never realize the site is not completely free," ITZBelden reported earlier this week in its new report, "2010 Paid Access Models: Practices and Profiles."

In the past two years, economic turmoil, eroding print circulation and a variety of other factors have prompted newspaper publishers across the industry to look at paid content, including charging for reading newspaper content online.

ITZBelden released the report, which focused primarily on paid online content and replica e-editions, earlier this week. The report was in partnership the American Press Institute, with information and support from Mather Economics and NewMediaHub.com.

ITZBelden estimates that of approximately 1,600 U.S. and Canadian daily newspapers, 60 percent have some paid access to their Web site (including e-edition replicas). The estimate is based on an ITZBelden/API Executive Survey from September 2009.

Some of these newspapers are having more success charging for online content than others. The report looks at more than a dozen newspapers, including Newsday, the Lima (Ohio) News, and The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash. It also analyzes multiple models, including paid online subscriptions and membership programs.

Of course, the model that works for one newspaper won't work for another. The demographics of each market and the audience for each publication's Web site will factor into these decisions. As the Financial Times has figured out, different audiences (fly-by readers versus heavy online users, for example) present different challenges and opportunities.

"It is unlikely that charging for access to news will be a solution for all markets. But charging for news is only one dimension of paid access. Charging for premium content, using paid content as a driver of new product development, partnering with deep niche content suppliers to develop new content channels, charging for services or database access are all emerging as potentially important revenue streams," according to the report.

Among ITZBelden's suggestions:

Set pricing high to begin and work down, not the other way around.
Implement approaches based on local market conditions. One-size-fits-all pricing and offerings do not exist.
Provide for easy, "low-friction" transactions for low-frequency use - story, session, day and week-long access.
Involve the marketing team in addressing objections to paid access.

Sources for the report included proprietary Belden Interactive local market studies, an executive survey produced by ITZBelden (in partnership with API) last year, executive interviews by ITZBelden and NewMediaHub.com's Alisa Cromer, data analysis by Mather Economics and and client-submitted information.

Clients who purchase the report ($500) will receive both a PowerPoint and narrative including case studies and analysis on payment structures, bundling practices, newspaper reach, paid content competition and more. To purchase the report, download this order form or contact Greg Harmon at harmon@beldeninteractive.com.

For more on paid content, see NAA's reports at www.naa.org/paidcontent.

Posted Jan 14 2010, 11:07 AM by Beth Lawton with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: paid content, ITZBelden

Digital Edge News Update: Paid Online Content Surveys; PolitiFact Texas Launches; Capital Times Update

PAID CONTENT

ITZ/Belden: Small Percentage of Print Subscribers Paying for Online Content

About 2.4 percent of print subscribers are paying for access to online content, according to an ITZ/Belden Interactive survey of 26 U.S. daily newspapers that are charging readers. The average price that the surveyed newspapers charge is $8.14 per month, but the price did not seem to impact readers' willingness to pay.

Source: Reflections of a Newsosaur

AdWeek: Most Willing to Pay ‘Nothing' to Read Newspapers Online

An AdWeek and Harris poll completed last month showed most people (77 percent) were willing to pay "nothing" to read the newspaper online. Just 19 percent said they would pay between $1 and $10 per month, and 4 percent said they would pay between $11 and $20 per month. People ages 35 to 44 were the most likely to say they'd pay $1-10 per month for online newspaper content.

Source: AdWeek

Also see:

There is No New Revenue Model for Journalism (Online Journalism Review)

NAA's Paid Online Content Report (NAA)

PolitiFact.com Partners with Austin American-Statesman

PolitiFact.com, a political fact-checking Web project of the St. Petersburg Times that launched in 2007, has partnered with the Austin American-Statesman to launch PolitiFact Texas.

The Texas site will focus on 2010 races (especially the governor's race there), and it will include the Truth-O-Meter. PolitiFact.com is offering affiliate opportunities to news organizations in other states, as well.

Sources: PolitiFact and The Austin American-Statesman (press release)

Two Years After Change, Editor Says Capital Times Online Still a ‘Work in Progress'

The Capital Times Editor Paul Fanlund says the online publication is an ongoing evolutionary process.

Two years ago, the newspaper switched from a daily print publication to a daily online publication (with print tab supplements two days per week). "The evolution has been quick and traumatic and is ongoing. ... How is it working? It's probably too early to tell," Fanlund told About.com.

In moving primarily online, Fanlund said, "What was gained was a greater focus on the core mission of producing important journalism. We produce several stories every week that try to step back and provide the kind of journalism I've loved my entire career."

Source: About.com

Interview: AP's McCullough on Using Social Networks to Choose, Report News

In an interview, Lauren McCullough, manager of social networks and news engagement at the Associated Press, said AP uses social networks to gauge buzz and inform news reporting.

"Every day, stories buzz and rumors emerge on social networks. Our editors make judgment calls on what merits further reporting. We won't report a story solely because it's trending on Twitter, but we will discuss it and weigh its popularity against its news value," she said.

McCullough also addressed social media's role in gather news, engaging the public and AP's social media policies.

Source: Poynter

More on social networking:

How WSJ Gets Social with News Behind a Pay Wall (MediaShift)

Social Media ROI: Newspapers Engage Readers, Advertisers (NAA)

Online Video Viewing Up Again in December

Although online video viewing was down in December compared to the month before, it was up substantially when compared to the same month a year ago, Nielsen reported. Year-over-year, unique viewers were up 10.3 percent, total streams were up 11.8 percent, streams per viewer were up 1.4 percent and time per viewer was up 13.2 percent.

Source: Nielsen

Mashable: Real-Time Ads Could Show on Google's Street View

If a patent filing is any clue, Google could be putting ads into the street view of Google Maps. Mashable reported that Google has applied for a patent "Claiming Real Estate in Panoramic or 3D Mapping Environments for Advertising".

The patent would cover "techniques for identifying groups of features in an online geographic view of a real property and replacing and/or augmenting the groups of features with advertisement."

"The idea is ingenious, really. Most of those obsolete ads on billboards serve very little purpose in the virtual world of Street View, but if one could replace them with up-to-date advertisements, they could be another source of income for the giant from Mountain View," according to Mashable.

Source: Mashable

Google Considers Leaving Chinese Market

After a series of security attacks and attempted hackings into the Google accounts of human rights activists, Google executives said they are considering pulling the company out of China. Google is not the no. 1 search engine in China, but leaving now could hurt Google's chances at becoming a big player in the rapidly growing Asian Internet economy, The New York Times reported.

Source: The New York Times

Have you registered for mediaXchange yet?

mediaXchange is an interesting, cost-efficient way to learn about new revenue opportunities and network with your newspaper media peers.

In addition to connecting with the advertisers above, mediaXchange is your chance to meet new people and learn about opportunities that will boost your newspaper's digital media revenue. The trip will pay for itself in the knowledge you gain!

mediaXchange has lots of programming for the digital media executive!

Digital Media session topics include:

Opportunities with E-Readers and Other Emerging Devices
Digital Media Revenue Ideas Session
10 Technology Trends
Growing Revenue through Mobile Innovations
Leveraging Social Media Solutions

Hear from Kodak's Jeff Hazelet!
Jeff Hazelet is responsible for Kodak's worldwide marketing operations, including the design and implementation of all marketing strategies, investments, policies, and processes.

Kodak is one of the many companies that have successfully navigated a major transition from a print to a digital world. According to a recent AdAge.com article, Kodak tapped "influential bloggers, Twitterers and Facebookaholics to move the needle" for its recent "Time to Smile" branding campaign.

mediaXchange is April 11 - 14 in Orlando. Register for mediaXchange today!

Posted Jan 13 2010, 09:05 AM by Beth Lawton with 3 comment(s)

Filed under: video, politics/elections, online-only, growing audience, paid content, Facebook

mediaXchange: A Digital Media Revenue Ideas Session

This year at mediaXchange, we'll kick off the digital media track with ideas session focusing entirely on digital media revenue.

Start mediaXchange off on the right foot by opening your mind to new revenue ideas! This session will present at least a dozen interesting, innovative, digitally-based programs that are guaranteed to provide revenue. You will leave this session with new ideas you can implement in your own market.

To make this session great, we need your ideas!

E-mail Beth Lawton at Beth.Lawton@naa.org with your interesting revenue-producing idea, and we may include it in our ideas session (giving you full credit, of course)!

Please include information about the idea, how long it has been in the market, how much revenue it has produced and why we should include your idea in this session. Also, please make sure we have your full contact information, including your phone number and e-mail address. If our session committee chooses your idea, we'll be in touch!

See you at mediaXchange!

mediaXchange is April 11 - 14, 2010 at the new Hilton Orlando. Register to attend at mediaxchange.naa.org.

Friend mediaXchange on Facebook, follow mediaXchange on Twitter and connect to mediaXchange on LinkedIn.

Posted Jan 11 2010, 10:04 AM by Beth Lawton with no comments

Filed under: mediaXchange

Digital Edge News Update: Newspapers Provide Most Original Reporting; Program Automates Post-Game Stories

Pew: In Baltimore, Newspapers Provide Most Original Reporting

A new study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism focusing on where people get their news "suggests that while the news landscape has rapidly expanded, most of what the public learns is still overwhelmingly driven by traditional media-particularly newspapers."

The study was conducted in Baltimore. Although the local newspapers are offering less original content than they did years ago, a study of the "six major narratives" in a week there found most news stories did not contain original reporting (instead just repackaged or repeated previously published information), according to PEJ

"And of the stories that did contain new information nearly all, 95 percent, came from traditional media-most of them newspapers. These stories then tended to set the narrative agenda for most other media outlets."

Source: The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism

Editorial Education Efforts Lead with Print-to-Smartphone Barcodes

Print magazine and newspaper ads are become more interactive by inserting mobile bar codes, but the editorial side may be leading the way in selling the technology to readers and advertisers

"With the sudden ubiquity of smartphones, which have apps that can read bar codes, and cameraphones, which can easily snap pictures of icons, magazines like Esquire and InStyle are adding interactive graphics to their articles, while Entertainment Weekly and Star are including them in ads," The New York Times reported.

Getting consumers to understand how to use them is still a challenge, however.

"I think advertisers will see that and say, ‘Hey, can we do that too?' But it is important for editorial to lead, to show advertisers they are supporting it, because there is an educational component necessary," said Scanbuy CEO Jonathan B. Bulkeley.

Source: The New York Times

Google News Not Posting New AP Content

New Associated Press articles haven't been hosted on Google News since Dec. 24, Search Engine Land reported. It may be an indication of how ongoing negotiations between Google and the AP are going.

Google released a statement that said, "We have a licensing agreement with the Associated Press that permits us to host its content on Google properties such as Google News. Some of that content is still available today. At the moment we're not adding new hosted content from the AP."

Since many newspapers and other sites carry AP content, you can still find AP stories on Google News. "You just won't find them hosted within Google itself," SEL explained.

Source: Search Engine Land

Digital Edge News Update: New Tablets, E-Readers Provide Opportunities for Newspapers; Surfing while Driving?

A New Distraction while Driving: The Internet

As if cell phones aren't enough of a distraction, software companies are working with car companies to bring the Internet to drivers. There are some safety features, The New York Times reported: "They prevent drivers from watching video and using some other functions while the car is moving, but they can still pull up content as varied as restaurant reviews and the covers of music albums with the tap of a finger."

Source: The New York Times

TABLETS AND E-READERS

Editors Weblog: What Tablets Could Mean for Newspapers

Tablet computers, including the much-hyped (but still unconfirmed) iSlate from Apple, could overtake the fledgling e-reader market and give newspapers new technology challenges and opportunities.

"Although some observers have remained skeptic of the tablets' abilities to ‘save' newspapers, these notepad-size wireless computers with full-color do offer the newspaper an innovative way to reach new, and possibly younger, consumers," The Editors Weblog reported.

Source: The Editors Weblog

E-Reader Sales May Double in 2010

More devices and more options may yield more sales of e-reader devices, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. CEA predicts e-reader sales will double in 2010, PC World reported.

Source: PC World

Plastic Logic Debuts ‘Pro-Reader' Device at CES

Plastic Logic debuted its "more than an e-reader" device called the Que at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas. The device is specialized for business users. Fast Company described it as "a desk manager-diary-email summary" with calendar functionality.

Source: Fast Company

Also see:

More Makers Jump Into the E-Reader Market (The Wall Street Journal)

More information from the Consumer Electronics Show is available at www.cesweb.org.

Quote of the Day: ‘Journalism in 2010 is an Act of Community Organizing'

"Despite what years of local monopoly may have taught many veteran journalists, readers don't automatically show up for whatever you publish. I've seen too many journalists react in shock when they put up their first blog post, only to end up with fewer readers than they have clean socks in their dresser drawer. ... Communities form around common needs and purposes, as will yours. So start by identifying what you can offer a community and which community might need what you can offer."

-- Robert Niles in an Online Journalism Review column giving advice to journalists who are starting blogging careers.

Google Focuses on Mobile Search, Display Ads for SMBs

Google is reportedly working on including click-to-call phone numbers in search ads on mobile phones. Google has spoken with many AdWords advertisers to tell them that the feature will be available soon, and advertisers will pay for the service on a per-call basis, MediaPost reported.

Source: MediaPost

Paying for Content: Consumer's Willingness Depends on Many Factors

Whether consumers are willing to pay for online content depends largely on who you ask and what the content is, according to a survey of 27,000 consumers in 54 countries. "The findings show that many consumers are willing to pay for online content or are open to increased advertising to pick up the costs, but attitudes vary greatly by geography, demographics and content type," Nielsen reported.

More than half of those surveyed have paid or would be willing to pay for entertainment - music, movies and television shows and games. Just less than half (49 percent) have paid or are willing to pay for magazines and 42 percent for newspapers.

Source: Nielsen

Journalism Online Partners to Give Fly-by Readers Free Page Views

Content monetization service Journalism Online LLC reportedly won't work with newspaper sites that want to bar all non-paying readers. The blog Shaping the Future of the Newspaper reported that founder Steve Brill told minonline "that ‘We are refusing to launch pay walls where you say to first-time visitors 'pay or go away,'' and will instead give visitors access to 10 to 15 articles for free before asking for payment. Journalism Online, launched in April 2009 by Brill, Gordon Crovitz and Leo Hindrey, hopes regular visitors will pay for complete access, while one-time or infrequent visitors won't be barred."

Source: SFN Blog

Have you registered for mediaXchange yet?

mediaXchange is an interesting, cost-efficient way to learn about new revenue opportunities and network with your newspaper media peers.

In addition to connecting with the advertisers above, mediaXchange is your chance to meet new people and learn about opportunities that will boost your newspaper's digital media revenue. The trip will pay for itself in the knowledge you gain!

mediaXchange has lots of programming for the digital media executive!

Digital Media session topics include:

Opportunities with E-Readers and Other Emerging Devices
Digital Media Revenue Ideas Session
10 Technology Trends
Growing Revenue through Mobile Innovations
Leveraging Social Media Solutions

Hear from Kodak's Jeff Hazelet!
Jeff Hazelet is responsible for Kodak's worldwide marketing operations, including the design and implementation of all marketing strategies, investments, policies, and processes.

Kodak is one of the many companies that have successfully navigated a major transition from a print to a digital world. According to a recent AdAge.com article, Kodak tapped "influential bloggers, Twitterers and Facebookaholics to move the needle" for its recent "Time to Smile" branding campaign.

mediaXchange is April 11 - 14 in Orlando. Register here today!

Posted Jan 08 2010, 09:14 AM by Beth Lawton with no comments

Filed under: Nielsen, Advertising, blogs, paid content, e-readers, Google

Digital Edge News Update: Skiff E-Reader Preview; NH.com Experiments with Custom Short URLs

Preview: Skiff E-Reader to Debut at CES

The Skiff e-reader device will be even larger than the Amazon Kindle DX, feature a flexible screen and carry ads along with content. It also "should do much better justice to magazine and newspaper layouts than we've yet seen from an e-ink-based reader," according to an Engaget review.

Hearst Corp. is behind Skiff LLC (formerly FirstPaper) and has been working on the device for more than two years.

According to the Hearst press release, "Newspaper and magazine content delivered by Skiff will feature visually appealing layouts, high-resolution graphics, rich typography and dynamic updates. These capabilities will allow more newspaper and magazine publishers to successfully migrate their premium content to the fast-growing e-reading channel, while preserving the key design qualities that help publications differentiate themselves and attract subscribers and advertisers."

Learn more about the device from Skiff.com.

Sources: Engaget, Hearst

Nashua Telegraph Experiments with Custom URL Shortener

The Nashua Telegraph has started experimenting with its own custom URL shortener powered by bit.ly. The newspaper's short domain will be in.nh.com, Damon Kiesow, Managing Editor-Online for nashuatelegraph.com, told NAA.

Setting it up was "fairly easy," Kiesow said. "If decide to keep the service long-term we are hoping it creates a bit of recognizable branding around our links as they filter out around the Web."

Working with bit.ly's professional services gives the newspaper enhanced tracking and click-through data. However, bit.ly is still working with third-party clients (such as TweetDeck) on an updated API to make the customizable domains possible to use there.

Source: The Nashua Telegraph

New York Times Works on Monetizing Visitors from Social Networks, Twitter

Some publications, such as the Austin American-Statesman, have experimented with sending Twitter messages on behalf of their paying advertisers, but many publishers are wary of doing so until they are certain about how their Twitter followers will react.

The New York Times Online is taking a different approach: They are selling packages of ads that will appear specifically for site visitors who arrive at NYTimes.com from social media sites and services like Twitter, AdAge reported.

Digital Edge News Update: Mobile, Convergence in 2010; How Women React to Social Media Marketing

Still Waiting: Where's the Revenue from Mobile, Social Marketing?

2010 may be the year of mobile advertising... or, at least, the year that mobile "begins to realize its potential for marketers," MediaPost's Joe Marchese told Poynter's Rick Edmonds.

In a wrap-up on what people are saying about mobile and social marketing in the next year, Edmonds wrote, "It makes sense to me that newspapers and other traditional media should be among the explorers of the big potential market, but I'm not nearly as sure as [Mark Briggs] and other digital enthusiasts that this train is leaving the station anytime soon."

Source: Poynter

Media Convergence: Take Two

Although many big-business media convergence efforts didn't work out in the past decade (think AOL-Time Warner), there is new hope for better, more consumer-focused options in the years to come. This is especially true with new mobile devices.

The New York Times' Eric Pfanner wrote, however, "While the idea of convergence clearly has outlived some of the mergers that were supposed to facilitate it, many media companies are still rooted in a preconvergence, predigital era, keeping tight control over the distribution of their content via separate technologies and through geographical separations,"

Source: The New York Times

See also:

2010: The Year of the Tablet (The New York Times)

Google, HTC to Launch Apple iSlate Competitor (Mashable)

OJR: An Online Journalist's 10 Resolutions for 2010

Making your Web site more mobile friendly, not over-using Flash and taking a reader out to lunch are among 10 suggested resolutions for online journalists from Online Journalism Review's Robert Niles.

Source: Online Journalism Review

See also:

Hopes for Journalists in 2010 (Save the Media)

More Women Becoming Fans of Products, Brands on Social Sites

More than 70 percent of women have become fans of a product or brand, learned about a new product, or joined a product or brand-related group on social networking sites, according to a new study from SheSpeaks. The social media study also looked at women's interaction with and attitudes toward ads on social networking sites, eMarketer reported.

Source: eMarketer

Letters to the Editor Go Digital

Handwritten letters to the editor and becoming few and far-between for many publications, and digital communication - either through e-mail, comments on articles or Tweets - are increasing.

"In effect, letters to editors have not, or will not, die. Instead, they've simply morphed into different forms. As editors noted, people are focusing more of their time and energy on connecting with others via social networking, and are more apt to post reactions to magazines or newspapers on their own blogs or Facebook pages," WWD Media reported.

Source: WWD Media

WashingtonTimes Kills TheConservatives.com, Among Other Cuts

In the midst of massive cuts at The Washington Times, the newspaper ended its experimental conservative news and discussion Web site, TheConservatives.com. The site, which launched in September, was designed to foster conversation between politically conservative citizens and government officials.

Source: Talking Points Memo

Conn.

Paper Partners with SeeClickFix to Nudge Officials into Fixing Issues

The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, Conn., has added a widget from SeeClickFix.com that lets readers report and talk about local problems from vandalism to potholes - and government officials are paying attention. In addition, the widget is increasing interaction and traffic on the newspaper's Web site, The New York Times reported.

Source: The New York Times

START 2010 OFF RIGHT!

Order Your NAA Planbook: Your "How-To" Guide to Improving Advertising Effectiveness and ROI

Included for 2010: new research on the value of newspaper media to advertisers, and how America shops and spends; a competitive media section; increased emphasis on digital product advantages; and more!

Don't Wait - Order Today! Planbooks are available now. Order yours at www.naa.org/planbook.

Posted Jan 04 2010, 07:24 AM by Beth Lawton with no comments

Filed under: Advertising, citizen journalism, marketing, Facebook

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