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

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Greenspun Media Group Launches Weekly Regional Business Magazine

Regional publisher Greenspun Media announced it will launch Vegas Inc., a weekly business magazine for the Las Vegas market, on April 4. Vegas Inc. staff includes Greenspun business editor Richard Pereze-Feria as editor-in-chief, Spencer Holladay as art director, Dave Mondt as designer asnd Erin... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #art director #associate editor


IPG: Publisher and retailer relationships must change

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 09:02 The relationship between publishers and retailers needs to change if physical bookshops are not to face a "bleak" future, the c.e.o. of Blackwell has warned. Andrew Hutchings was speaking during the Retailers Question Time... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #physical bookshops #andrew hutchings #heythrop park #patrick neale #chipping norton


Continuum crowned indie publisher of the year

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 09:04 Continuum has been crowned the Independent Publishers Guild's Independent Publisher of the Year at the IPG awards, in a night when it and Faber won two awards. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ipg awards #independent publisher


IPG: Indies urged to join social networking sites

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 10/03/2011 - 09:04 Social media expert and author Jon Reed has urged independent publishers to join social networking sites, identifying them as a way of "levelling the playing field". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #playing field


Association Publishing: Hot Button Topics for 2011

Association publishers face some unique challenges—namely their role as an ancillary operation within a broader organization. However, the operative word is “publisher” and associations share many of the same concerns as their peers on the consumer and b-to-b sides. Folio: spoke with several... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #association publishing


McClure to set up publishing company

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Wed, 09/03/2011 - 08:43 Picture book author and illustrator Gillian McClure is setting up publishing company Plaister Press rather than conform to the "hugely cautious" picture book market. McClure hopes the company will eventually expand to include... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #eventually expand #random house


Transworld to publish Shaun Ryder memoir

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 13:45 Transworld is to publish the autobiography of Happy Mondays star Shaun Ryder. Editorial director Sarah Emsley acquired UK and Commonwealth rights through Matthew Hamilton at Aitken Alexander Associates. Emsley said:... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #matthew hamilton #living legend #life lived #absolutely thrilled


Harvill Secker to publish Nanjing Heroes

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 08:20 Harvill Secker is to publish Nanjing Heroes, a novella by Chinese author Yan Geling, which is currently being made into a film starring Christian Bale. Editor-at-large Rebecca Carter acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Walter Zacharius, 87, Romance Publisher, Dies

Walter Zacharius emerged from the world of true-confession magazines and paperback genre fiction to found Kensington. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #romance publisher


Adobe Ships Tablet Publishing Suite

Adobe Digital Publishing Suite supports tablets running Android as well as RIM PlayBook and iOS tablet devices. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstone's parent buys stake in 'social bookselling' website

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 02/03/2011 - 08:44 HMV Group has "substantially" backed a social networking site called aNobii, which aims to help readers find buy and share books. The website, www.anobii.com, has existed since 2006 but was bought recently by internet... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #share books #hong kong


Publishers express support for Gardners Hive

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 02/03/2011 - 15:24 Gardners has received backing for its Hive consumer website from publishers including Hachette UK's c.e.o. after it presented its new initiative to more than 300 publishers. The wholesaler has yet to confirm a live date for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #titles sold


Social networking 'will be the death of us', says Jacobson

Written By: Laura Richards Publication Date: Tue, 01/03/2011 - 14:59 Man Booker winner Howard Jacobson has dismissed social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, claiming both sites "will be the death of us". In an interview on Sky Arts' "The Book Show", The Finkler Question author confessed... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #social networking #sky arts #book show #positive role #middle east #political views


Media Decoder: Random House Adopts New Model for Selling E-Books

Beginning Tuesday, Random House will join other major book publishers in selling its ebooks using the so-called agency model, setting its own prices for ebooks while the retailer takes a commission. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #media decoder #random house


Media Decoder: A Limit on Lending E-Books

Beginning in March, ebooks from HarperCollins may be lent by public libraries only 26 times before the license expires. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #media decoder #public libraries


Publishers Look Beyond Bookstores

The clothing boutique Kitson sold twice as many books in 2010 as the year before. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers' school budgets under threat

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 15:56 Almost three quarters of primary head teachers are expecting funding for books to be inadequate in 2011–12, as the Publishers Association has warned of a “challenging year” for book sales to schools. As schools begin to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #school budgets #publishers association #challenging year #book sales #key stage #learning resources


Fourth Estate to publish Someday

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 11:35 Fourth Estate has bought a début novel from a permissions manager at Faber. Editorial director Clare Reihill bought UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada to Someday Find Me by Nicci Cloke through Jo Unwin at Conville and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fourth estate #jo unwin


Publishing proliferates thanks to POD and digital

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 23/02/2011 - 09:35 Print on demand, digital and self-publishing are continuing to push up the number of books published in the UK and overseas, according to new output data issued by Nielsen Book. The statistics also reveal that the number of new... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #nielsen book #ten years


Hearst Magazines Digital Media Announces Staff Changes

Hearst Magazines Digital Media announced several changes to its roster today. Julie Hocheiser is now site director for Seventeen.com. Hocheiser served previously as the senior web editor for the Hearst Teen Network. Neha Gandhi also joined Seventeen.com as a web editor. Gandhi is the former... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #seventeen magazine #site director #web editor