Has Social Media Made Search-Driven Publishing Irrelevant?

The growing importance of social media, coupled with the powerful wrath of Google, have shaken the once-hot world of cheap search-driven publishing. About.com recently dumped its CEO. Yahoo’s $100 million acquisition of Associated Content (now Yahoo Voices) has yielded a network of 700,000 freelancers who produce secondary content on sites like Yahoo Sports and OMG, but advertisers say they haven’t heard about it in more than a year. Meanwhile, AOL’s Seed project is essentially in limbo. In fact, visitors to Seed.com are currently greeted with the message "We are in the process of reformatting Seed.com and new assignments are currently on hold." In a statement, AOL said it has reduced the number of Seed freelancers “as we evaluate how best to integrate its strengths within [the company].” And then there’s Demand Media, which pioneered the practice of churning out thousands of articles based on Google search data. Last week, three of Demand’s founders exited, a year after its underwhelming IPO. Its signature property, eHow.com, is still massive (around 50 million unique users) but has lost about 10 million users since Google adjusted its algorithm to weed out low-quality content. Demand has very publicly pivoted to celebrity-centric content and splashier design to attract advertisers. Still, Facebook and Twitter likely have more to do with the category’s decline than Google. Wetpaint and BuzzFeed are among a new breed of publishers mastering the creation of highly... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2012-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #necessarily viewed #selling point #horizon media #founders left #team monitors #fans react #specific characters #smart strategy

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Has Social Media Made Search-Driven Publishing Irrelevant?'


US law firms target Apple and US publishers over ebooks

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 23/08/2011 - 09:10 Several US law firms have now filed lawsuits against Apple and major US publishers alleging what one described as a "horizontal conspiracy" to fix and increase the price of ebooks in the US. One firm also now moved for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S to publish ebook star John Locke

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 15:00 Simon & Schuster US has signed a deal to publish the physical editions of John Locke's Donovan Creed novels in North America. In June, Locke became the first self-published author to sell more than one million ebooks... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Will January 1, 2013, Be Doomsday for Publishers?

As Don Henley told the New York Times, what's at stake is "fairness" and "parity." The Eagles lead singer, who also heads a group called the Recording Artists Coalition, was referring to a revision to copyright law, made in the 1970s, that could drastically affect the ownership of some of the... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Holistic Publishing 1O1

Digital technology is transforming the world of textbook publishing much as it is changing every other aspect of the book world. Digitization is bringing down the cost of textbook content, transforming static print works into interactive learning experiences and allowing publishers to create and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher Spending Flat on Manufacturing/Production Technology

The good news: Publishers aren't cutting manufacturing and production budgets as much as they did last year. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital companies "have stranglehold on publishing"

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 15:35 Canadian novelist Kate Pullinger has said the power of Amazon, Apple and Google has put publishers in a "difficult situation". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Set to Publish Pop Author

Amazon moved aggressively to fulfill its new ambition to publish books as well as sell them, announcing that it had signed Timothy Ferriss, the popular self-help guru. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Female-Focused Glam Media Moves Into Mobile

Ad network and online publisher Glam Media says it has built a monthly audience of 200 million visitors worldwide, and now it's looking to grow by tackling the mobile market. CEO Samir Arora said he's ready to take on Apple and Google in the process. Glam is best known as a company targeting... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Laura Frerer-Schmidt Named Publisher of Women’s Health

Laura Frerer-Schmidt has been named publisher with Rodale’s Women’s Health magazine. Slated to begin her new position on September 6, Frerer-Schmidt comes from Self magazine, where she was associate publisher. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon publishing a "concern"—Barnsley

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 16/08/2011 - 15:46 Amazon's move into publishing is a "concern" and the business is close to being in a monopolistic position, according to the c.e.o. of HarperCollins. Victoria Barnsley was the latest book trade figure to appear on BBC Radio 4's... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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EIBF denies link with Publish America

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 16/08/2011 - 08:45 The Edinburgh International Book Festival has said it has no relationship with print-on-demand publisher Publish America, after the US firm sent letters to its mailing list of authors promising their books will be... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers "lax" on physical quality of books - Daunt

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 15/08/2011 - 15:49 Waterstone’s m.d. James Daunt has accused publishers of being “lax” in not paying enough attention to the physical quality of books while warning bricks and mortar bookshops will not survive unless they are good enough. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Egmont goes BZRK with cross-media series

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Mon, 15/08/2011 - 08:30 Egmont has teamed up with Michael Grant, author of the bestselling GONE series, and media studio The Shadow Gang to launch BZRK, a new cross-media series. Egmont describes BZRK as a “storytelling experience” that brings... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple and US publishers face agency lawsuit

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 10/08/2011 - 09:40 FIve US publishers and Apple have been named in a US lawsuit alleging the companies "illegally fix prices of electronic books" and that the five publishers "forced Amazon to abandon its discount pricing and adhere to a new... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AppWatch : A Look at What Publishers are Launching in the Mobile Space

Move Over Rubik's Cube ... There's a New, Addicting Puzzle in Town App: Esquire's Hardest Puzzle Ever Produced by: Esquire magazine (Hearst) Price: First level and sponsor level are free; next four levels cost $4.99 (total) to... Continue reading at Publishing Executive

[ Publishing Executive | 2011-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Cache: After Much Ado, a Google Book Deal in France

Could the Internet giant's deal with Hachette Livre clear a path for a deal to settle longstanding litigation in the United States? Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers need to "stand firm" against digital giants

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 08/08/2011 - 16:08 Literary agent Andrew Wylie has said publishers need to "stand firm" in the face of digital companies like Amazon and Apple or risk being locked into an insupportable business model that is unable to reward writers. In an... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Phonics rules "hurting publishers"

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 05/08/2011 - 14:16 Companies that publish phonics material have warned overseas sales are being lost as a result of a government listing of ‘approved’ phonics programmes. Last month the Department for Education published a new, slimmed-down list... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook buys innovative ebook publisher Push Pop Press

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 03/08/2011 - 09:14 Facebook has bought the innovative ebook publisher Push Pop Press but will not use the company to publish ebooks. The giant social networking website will instead use PPP's platform and technology to give "people even richer... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Total Media wins account for the Folio Society

The Folio Society has awarded its media account to Total Media, as the 64-year-old publisher tries to overcome the market challenges presented by ebooks. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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