Guest: Rand Fishkin, SparkToro

“My position is, How do we help marketers find the sources of influence that their audience pays attention to outside of these big ecosystems? Because we think that’s not only good for the advertiser, it’s good for the publisher, too. If you’ve built a great audience, you should have people coming to you who want to reach that audience, you shouldn’t have to participate in Google’s extremely low payout advertising network or FB’s or put all your content on TikTok for free. Those mechanisms for driving revenue, we think are fundamentally biased and unfair.”

– Rand Fishkin, SparkToro

What can publishers do to get out from under the dominant tech platforms that control the digital advertising space? How have other industries pushed back on Google’s scraping of their data and coming between them and their audience? How can publishers take back control of our audience data so that we’re not having to go through Google, Facebook and the other tech platforms to reach our own audience?

In this episode of News Take, News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern is joined by Rand Fishkin, cofounder and CEO of audience research software firm SparkToro, for a fascinating conversation about the big tech platforms, their algorithms, and how the Internet has evolved from a once equitable environment that was mutually beneficial, to now favoring only a handful of giant tech platforms today. Rand paints a picture of the digital marketing landscape businesses must navigate today, highlighting concerns with tech platforms’ walled gardens in which they intentionally try to keep you from leaving. He shares SparkToro’s research on “zero click searches” that has gained attention from marketers worldwide on how few web searches now result in a click through to the original content. And he explains how his company helps marketers understand their audience’s behaviors and preferences without having to rely on Google and Facebook, and the importance of taking back ownership of your audience relationships and data.

Listen or download the audio file to listen offline:

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Speaker bios

Rand Fishkin is cofounder and CEO of SparkToro, a software company that provides unique audience research and insights, aggregated from tens of millions of verifiable public social and web profiles, to make channels outside Facebook and Google accessible to everyone. Rand started SparkToro in 2018 with Casey Henry. Prior to that, he was CEO of Moz, where he raised two rounds of funding, led three acquisitions, and a rebrand. From 2007 to 2014, he grew the company to over 130 employees, more than $30 million in revenue, and web traffic to over 30 million visitors a year. He’s dedicated his professional life to helping people do better marketing through his writing, videos, speaking, and his book, Lost and Founder. Rand previously co-contributed to two other books: Art of SEO, and Inbound Marketing & SEO. He’s been profiled in the Seattle Times, featured in Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, named to BusinessWeek’s 30 Under 30, written about in Newsweek, The Next Web, the Inc 500, and hundreds of other publications.

Additional Resources

In 2020, Two Thirds of Google Searches Ended Without a Click (Sparktoro)

White Paper: How Google Abuses Its Position as a Market Dominant Platform to Strong-Arm News Publishers and Hurt Journalism (News/Media Alliance – features SparkToro’s zero click research)

Watch the next episode: Lessons in Practicality from The Daily Memphian: “A Lot of People Don’t Know We’re a Nonprofit” 

Watch the previous episode: Update on News Deserts and Local News Trends

View all episodes

Send us your suggestions

Send your suggestions for future News Take guests to Alliance VP, Research & Insights Rebecca Frank at rebecca@newsmediaalliance.org.

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News publishers and magazines have become highly experimental and deeply innovative businesses. We have larger audiences than ever — but also need to create new products and distribution systems to drive a better future. This newsletter is designed to highlight interesting ideas and provoke some thinking. Send suggestions to david@newsmediaalliance.org.

To receive ‘Expanding the View’ in your email inbox each month, click here to subscribe.

What I’ve been reading this month:

For Creators, Community is the New Follower Count (The Washington Post)
Community apps for audiences of influencers and other creators may be the future of engagement with content.

Lewis Black Sues Pandora for $10 Million Over Copyright Infringement (The Verge)
As Spotify continues to grow, comedians continue to sue for copyright infringement.

Why Republicans Stopped Talking to the Press (New York Magazine)
“Sitting down with the mainstream press has come to be seen by Republican primary voters as consorting with the enemy, and approval by the enemy is the political kiss of death.” – As we move deeper into 2022 election season, a shift in Republican strategy.

Opinion: I Stopped Reading the News. Is the Problem Me — or the Product? (The Washington Post) – A take on news avoidance, from deep within the news industry.

10 Key Takeaways for News Subscription Managers from the 2022 Digital News Report (What’s New in Publishing) – An overview of some innovative findings from the 2022 Reuters Institute report.

Meet the Lobbyist Next Door (WIRED)
Is your favorite influencer actually a lobbyist?

How Software Is Stifling Competition and Slowing Innovation (The New York Times)
“There is an advantage to software that economists haven’t really reckoned with yet. Software isn’t accelerating creative destruction today. Software is suppressing it.”

Leaked Videos Show Disney Is the Biggest Ad Tech Giant You’ve Never Heard Of (VICE)
Might the future of ads and media look a lot like the past?

Web3/Blockchain:

As more and more groundbreaking discussions about Web3 and blockchain are taking place every day, I’m dedicating a section of this newsletter to the topic and will highlight the most interesting ones each month.

Hype is a Weaponized Form of Optimism (Nieman Lab)
A contrarian take on emerging technologies.

Developer Turns ‘Future of Gaming’ Talk into a Surprise Attack on Convention’s NFT and Blockchain Sponsors (PC Gamer)
How one developer fought back against the domination of the gaming industry by crypto.

Podcasts:

The Mid-Century Media Theorists Who Saw What Was Coming  (The Ezra Klein Show)

Notable in the Twitter-verse:

Check out these accounts for more on these and other emerging topics:

Gregg Fernandes: @GreggFernandes
Steve Lohr: @SteveLohr
Amanda Ripley: @amandaripley
Ben Wofford: @BenWoffordDC
Taylor Lorenz: @TaylorLorenz

Expanding the View home

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The post Expanding the View – July 2022 appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

News publishers and magazines have become highly experimental and deeply innovative businesses. We have larger audiences than ever — but also need to create new products and distribution systems to drive a better future. This newsletter is designed to highlight interesting ideas and provoke some thinking. Send suggestions to david@newsmediaalliance.org.

To receive ‘Expanding the View’ in your email inbox each month, click here to subscribe.

What I’ve been reading this month:

The Biggest Change in Media Since Cable Is Happening Right Now (Politico)
Following the demise of CNN+, many predicted an end to streaming digital news platforms. But Politico’s Jack Shafer sees another story. 

An Inflection Point Year for TV Viewing as Cord-Cutters Dominate (CivicScience)
Research firm CivicScience breaks down the trends related to cable “cord cutting” and digital streaming, and makes some predictions for the future.

Google Agrees to Pay for Beefed-Up Wikipedia Service (Courthouse News Service)
While Google is involved in international negotiations regarding paying for news, it has recently agreed to pay the Wikimedia Foundation for access to Wikipedia articles.

Journalism Has Suddenly Taken Off on TikTok: What Publishers Need to Know (Press Gazette)
With the rise of TikTok as a social media platform and cultural juggernaut, some news brands are breaking through to global audiences of the app’s younger users.

Popular Science Owner Recurrent Ventures Raises $300 Million in Blackstone-Led Round (The Wall Street Journal)
A bet on media.

Facebook’s Current State of Decomposition (Garbage Day)
Deep diving into the most recent Facebook Widely Viewed Content report and what it can tell us about the current state of the company and its prospects.

Web3/Blockchain:

I’ve been thinking a lot about crypto and Web3 – and there have been a lot of diverse opinions this month:

The Pivot to Web3 Is Going to Get People Hurt (VICE)
Looking into who stands to benefit from the Web3 “revolution.”

Cautionary Tales from Cryptoland (Harvard Business Review)
Part of HBR’s extensive series on Web3, blockchain and crypto, looking at some of the riskier elements.

Paradise at the Crypto Arcade: Inside the Web3 Revolution (WIRED )
A journalist went to a crypto conference to understand the mindset and found himself starting his own DAO.

In Defense of Crypto(currency) (A Few Thoughts on Cryptographic Engineering)
A cryptographer’s deep dive into the fundamentals that underlie cryptocurrency, while acknowledging many of the field’s flaws.

Notable in the Twitter-verse:

Check out these accounts for more on these and other emerging topics:

Cecilia Kang: @ceciliakang
Catherine Perloff: @catherineperlo1
Feli Carrique: @felicarrique
News Product Alliance: @newsproduct
Today in News Tech: @TodayinNewsTech

From @acfou:

1 in 5 CTV ads shown when TV is off

"Some 17% of ads shown on televisions connected through a streaming device—including streaming boxes, dongles, sticks and gaming consoles—are playing while the TV is off." https://t.co/Kq6xOX9N3S

— Dr. Augustine Fou (@acfou) June 13, 2022

From @ScottBrodbeck:

I’ve been doing this local news thing for 12+ years at this point and for the first time I think I know how it’s going to shake out

— Scott Brodbeck (@scottbrodbeck) June 1, 2022

Expanding the View home

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The post Expanding the View – June 2022 appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

This is my monthly reading list of stories about emerging business trends that I thought were interesting and are designed to make you think. I hope you enjoy – and if you see any up-and-coming trends for the news industry that you’d like to share, drop me a line at david@newsmediaalliance.org.

To receive ‘Expanding the View’ in your email inbox each month, click here to subscribe.

What I’ve been reading this month:

How the Pandemic Made Algorithms Go Haywire (Slate)
Algorithms have entered every market, industry and sector. This story looks at what happened when healthcare got involved.

Forget Personalisation, It’s Impossible and It Doesn’t Work (MarketingWeek)
For years, personalized marketing has been seen as the holy grail of the field. Should it be?

What Problem Blockchains Actually Solve (The Solution Space)
If recent news about cryptocurrency has you scrambling to find more about the fundamentals, this is a great place to start.

Publishers’ Secondary Market Strategy: What Happens When the Monetary Appeal of NFTs Isn’t Enough?  (Digiday)
For anyone considering using NFTs to raise money, the key question is “then what?”

The 4 Hurdles Micropayment Platforms Can’t Overcome (Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter)
Micropayments have been promised as a solution to the news industry’s woes for years. Why haven’t the promises panned out?

Notable in the Twitter-verse:

Check out these accounts for more on these and other emerging topics:

Alex Kantrowitz: @Kantrowitz
Keach Hagey: @keachhagey
Will Oremus: @WillOremus
Tech Policy Press: @techpolicypress
Julien Genestoux: @julien51

From @AKGrenier:

@netflix DON'T MESS THIS UP!

You have one of the most unique opportunities to execute monetization on a global content platform ever.

DON'T TAKE A GENERIC ADS APPROACH!!!

My brain on how to think about ads from a customer and product first approach on Netflix. …

— Adam Grenier (@AKGrenier) April 21, 2022

From @JorgeStolfi:

Every computer scientist should be able to see that cryptocurrencies are totally disfunctional payment systems, and that "blockchain technology" (including "smart constracts") is a technological fraud. Would they please say that out loud?

— Jorge Stolfi (@JorgeStolfi) May 5, 2022

From @michaelbeach:

Local video advertising will be a $55B market in 2022.

Three big questions.

— Michael Beach (@michaelbeach) May 2, 2022

Expanding the View home

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The post Expanding the View – May 2022 appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Alliance Executive Vice President & General Counsel Danielle Coffey said, “The Alliance applauds the principle of ‘what is illegal offline, should be illegal online.’ The European Union is leading the way in protecting consumers and holding big tech companies to the same standard as everyone else. Taken together, the DSA and the Digital Markets Act go a long way in rebalancing the online ecosystem and leveling the playing field between news publishers and the dominant online platforms. Healthy democracies rely on high-quality news and information, and we hope that special attention is paid to European publishers’ ability to produce and monetize their journalism throughout the implementation and enforcement of both the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act.”

The regulation, first proposed by the European Commission in 2020, must now be finalized and formally approved by the Council and the Parliament. The DSA will become directly applicable across the European Union 15 months following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

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The post Statement: News Media Alliance Commends European Union for Reaching Agreement on Digital Services Act appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

towfiqu ahamed / iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

Reacting to yesterday’s congressional hearing and testimony by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, in an opinion piece for The New York Times, former Facebook data scientist Roddy Lindsay agreed with Haugen’s proposed solution to address the problem of big tech platforms spreading harmful misinformation and fake news – make the platforms liable for content they promote via their algorithms. Lindsay and Haugen suggest that Congress reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which currently protects the tech platforms from such liability.

News Media Alliance President & CEO, David Chavern, made a similar suggestion last year in an op-ed in WIRED, stating, “Limiting Section 230 and making the platforms responsible for content they decide to promote and amplify would, at the very least, require the platforms to carefully track and filter what they promote, and introduce incentives to support known sources of quality information.”

The post Facebook Whistleblower, Former Facebook Data Scientist Support Section 230 Reform appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

On  February 19, 2020, Alliance President & CEO David Chavern will testify at the Department of Justice (DOJ) Workshop on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

According to the DOJ website, the workshop, titled “Section 230 – Nurturing Innovation or Fostering Unaccountability?,” will discuss the evolution of Section 230 from its original purpose in granting limited immunity to Internet companies, its impact on the American people, and whether improvements to the law should be made.

Read Mr. Chavern’s testimony here.

View the DOJ Workshop Agenda here.

The post News Media Alliance Testimony: Department of Justice Sec. 230 Workshop appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

CEO Testifies before Congress, Says Platforms Are Not Neutral and Should Be Held Accountable

Arlington, Va. – News Media Alliance President and CEO David Chavern today called on the major technology platforms, namely Facebook and Google, to take responsibility for the role they play in deciding, via their “secret algorithms,” how and to whom news is distributed, and the subsequent impact of those decisions on civil society.

Chavern, who leads the association of more than 2,000 print and digital news publishers, made his remarks while testifying at a House Judiciary Committee hearing that addressed, “Social Media Filtering Practices and their Effect on Free Speech.”

“We have never been more interconnected or had easier and quicker means of communication. However, as currently structured, the digital ecosystem gives tremendous viewpoint control and economic power to a very small number of companies – the tech platforms that distribute online content. That control and power must come with new responsibilities,” stated Chavern.

In a preliminary statement, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said, “The advent of social media has made it possible for people to connect across continents, explore vast amounts of information, and share meaningful dialogue with friends and strangers. However, this same technology can be used to suppress a particular viewpoint and manipulate public opinion.”

The editorial judgments the platforms make about the content it distributes, combined with the fact that they collect revenue to promote paid content over other, better-quality content, demonstrate that the platforms are not “neutral pipes.” Yet, Chavern said, the platforms don’t assume responsibility in the same way as an established newspaper publisher. “My members put their names on their product and stand behind it. Readers know where to send complaints. The same cannot be said of the sea of bad information that is delivered by the platforms in paid priority over my members’ quality information.”

Chavern called for lawmakers to acknowledge the “immense filtering and decision-making power” of the tech platforms, suggesting they require the platforms to implement standards for their algorithms. “Neither company is ‘neutral,’ and it’s wrong to pretend they are. From that flows a clear need for both companies to have: (i) enforceable, transparent standards on their algorithmic decision-making, particularly as to fairness and openness; and (ii) systems and policies that reward original, quality information and content provided by trusted news organizations employing professional journalists.”

Chavern concluded, “The bottom line is that while Facebook and Google claim that they do not want to be ‘arbiters of truth,’ they are continually making huge decisions on how and to whom news content is delivered. The major technology platforms are wonderful and original creations, but they need to be much better stewards of the information they distribute to the public than they are today if we hope to sustain a vibrant civil society into the future.”

Chavern’s full testimony can be found here.

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Media Contact:
Lindsey Loving
Manager, Communications
lindsey@newsmediaalliance.org
571.366.1009

The News Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print, digital and mobile publishers of original news content. Headquartered near Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va., the association focuses on ensuring the future of news media through communication, research, advocacy and innovation. Information about the News Media Alliance (formerly NAA) can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

The post News Media Alliance Calls on Duopoly to Stop Filtering Quality News appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

The primary takeaway – measured by NewsWhip’s Chrome browser extension – should not come as a surprise to most news publishers: “What’s going to go viral, will go viral.” Their advice is to “focus on creating high-quality content.”

Additionally, although the stated goal of the change to the algorithm was to focus on posts from friends and family (thereby minimizing the role of news in the News Feed), NewsWhip found that more than half of the 100 most-engaging articles on Facebook in March 2018 could be categorized as “hard news/current events” and 53 out of 100 were from general news publishers.

Beyond showing that consumers care about high quality news, the report provides some new context around how Facebook performs as a sharing platform and what publishers may want to do to continue to benefit from it. In the new algorithm, the data shows:

• Roughly half of publisher engagement comes from “personal sharing,” rather than sharing on brand pages, and 80 percent of the sharing comes from readers.
• Misinformation tends to be spread because it taps into reader emotions, especially “Feelings of conspiracy, outrage and fear, which can spread like wildfire.”
• Engagement rates for news publishers did not dramatically drop following the algorithm change, contrary to expectation.

As NewsWhip explains in the report, “Whether Facebook intends itself to be a media platform or not, it’s still a place where people come to see what their friends and family are talking about each day, news included. “ The full report, available here, is worth diving into, as it provides a number of lenses through which to view the changes, including assessing how reporters’ page engagement with their readers has changed.

The post NewsWhip’s Report Measures Impact of FB Algorithm Change appeared first on News/Media Alliance.