Has Social Media Made Search-Driven Publishing Less Relevant?

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. Typef.com, a site built around Tyra Banks, is just building its audience, while Livestrong.com, a health site backed by Lance Armstrong, has seen traffic climb by 19 percent over the past... 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 Less Relevant?'


Indigo fires Canadian publishers' anger over changing terms

Written By: M J Deschamps in Ottawa Publication Date: Fri, 22/07/2011 - 15:02 Canadian publishers have attacked the decision by Indigo Books & Music, the country's biggest bookshop chain, to stock fewer books and evaluate returns on a shorter time frame. They claim it is putting extra... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing industry #digital technology #canadian publishers #blockbuster titles #policy change


Forbes Media Makes Minority Investment in Startup of Ex-Fortune Editors

Forbes Media has struck a strategic partnership with Techonomy Media, a new media business founded last year by former Fortune magazine editors and writers David Kirkpatrick, Peter Petre and Brent Schlender. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Conde Nast, Other Publishers Look to Standardize Audience Metrics In Digital Editions

Digital editions, the oft-dubbed “Wild West” of the publishing world, may be charted in the near future. Many publishers are investing large amounts of time and resources to navigating user behavior in tablet editions of magazines, and this data is being used in a variety of ways. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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F + W Media Acquires The Writers Store

Adding to their rapidly expanding portfolio of e-commerce storefronts, F + W Media acquired The Writers Store. Becoming the 26th store under the F + W umbrella, The Writers Store sells third-party writing and filmmaking tools globally. The Writers Store offers tools, services and exclusive... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BREAKING: Schofield Media Shutters U.S. Operations

B-to-B publisher Schofield Media is shutting down its U.S. operations after "unexpectedly" losing its bank financing. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Natmag poaches Grazia publisher Ella Dolphin for Cosmo

Ella Dolphin, the publisher of Bauer Media title Grazia, is to join Cosmopolitan as publishing director. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Association plans second digital survey

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 19/07/2011 - 17:41 The Publishers Association is launching its second digital survey this year and could introduce a quarterly digital survey by 2012. The trade body said the survey came in response to the "significant growth" in digital sales,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers association #trade body #significant growth #digital sales #ebook sales #urged publishers


Reports: Reader’s Digest, Wenner Media Up For Sale

Reader's Digest Association is on the block, seeking a price of around $1 billion, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, which says the company may sell off piece by piece rather than as a whole. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ebury to publish Armistice poetry collection

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 15/07/2011 - 14:29 Ebury is hoping to have unearthed the talents of a new generation of war poets as it publishes a collection of verses, selected by a panel including poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, to coincide with Armistice Day. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's publishing "haemorrhaging talent"

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 15/07/2011 - 08:46 The industry is "haemorrhaging talent" as authors and illustrators are finding it increasingly difficult to make a living in the children's sector. Agent Caroline Sheldon said that she estimated that fewer than half of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-textbooks are destroying the old publishing business model

By Tim Conneally, Betanews The business model behind textbooks is completely out of step with what the market today wants, according to the head of Nature Publishing's digital textbook initiatives. Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2011-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers and E-Commerce: Perfect Together

E-commerce is a big opportunity for publishers. “If you talk to the people at Net-A-Porter or the people at Gilt, they say they’re increasingly commerce companies moving into content and I think what you’re going to find is content companies are going to move into commerce,” Hearst Magazines... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Glam Media Aiming at Brands with New Model

Glam Media built a big collection of online blogs aimed at women on the premise that by serving up high-quality content, it could appeal to brand advertisers who have shunned lower cost ad networks. The company appears to have had the right idea; launched in 2005, it now claims some 2,500... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Sheila Bair to Write Book on Financial Crisis

Sheila C. Bair, who ended a tumultuous five-year term as chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation this month, has landed a book deal to give her inside account of the financial crisis. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lock, Stock, and Publisher

Booksellers have the industry connections to publish their books just about anywhere, but for some bookstore owners, self-publishing is preferable to going the traditional route. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookstore owners


Publishers seek second half upturn to 2011

Written By: The Bookseller News Team Publication Date: Fri, 08/07/2011 - 14:19 Publishers are optimistic about the next six months, despite a number of big ­houses turning in their worst first half-year Nielsen BookScan TCM sales performances for years, with ebook growth already beginning to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Memoir of WikiLeaks Founder Is Tabled

A book deal that Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, signed only six months ago has fallen through, according the Guardian. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cinchcast Launches Audio Platform Cloud Solution for Digital Publishers

Cinchcast, whose technology has been used by BlogTalkRadio since 2006, released a cloud-based audio solution for digital publishers. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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French publisher La Martinière joins the iBookstore.

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Wed, 06/07/2011 - 07:32 La Martinière is the latest French publisher to sign up to sell ebooks through Apple’s iBookstore. About 150 La Martinière and Seuil titles are available so far, with another 300 expected to follow by the end of the summer,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to Acquire U.K. Online Book Seller and Publisher

Amazon.com has acquired The Book Depository International, a seven-year old online bookseller based in the UK, which also republishes titles that are no longer in print or poorly available. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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