SODP Dispatch - 2 November 2023

Instability Makes a Case for Revenue Diversity

By Andrew Kemp

A quick look at the global economic situation reveals that monetization diversity remains as sound a strategy for publishers as ever.

Before the Israel-Hamas war, the outlook for the global economy was middling, with the OECD projecting that growth would slow next year amid persistent core inflation.

Now, however, the World Bank has just warned that if the conflict escalates, then global energy prices will hit record-breaking highs. In the bank’s worst-case scenario, in which oil hits $157 per barrel, a world recession is almost inevitable.

Long-time readers will be familiar with my commentary towards the end of last year, in which I urged publishers to review organizational structures as a matter of urgency amid a worsening economic outlook.

While I stand by this recommendation, this time, I’m narrowing the focus somewhat by recommending revenue diversification.

SPONSORED

PubLive Q&A: Publishers’ CMSs Are Key to Unlocking Growth Potential

By Andrew Kemp

SODP's managing editor Andrew Kemp sat down to pick the brains of Manavdeep Singh – founder of PubLive and media industry veteran with 15+ years of experience – to discuss how publishers can navigate some of the most pressing challenges.

What you will learn:

• The challenges that stem from publishers' heavy dependency on multiple vendors, plugins, platforms and dashboards to operate efficiently, and what publishers can do about it

• Why a publisher’s backend infrastructure is critical to its SERP rankings

• The future of publishing in the age of AI

• How digital publishers can create additional audience touchpoints beyond their website

SPONSORED

Video Monetization Strategies: The Complete Guide for Publishers

By Pratik Dholakiya

Individuals now spend 17 hours per week on average consuming video content. For publishers, this presents an unparalleled opportunity. Video content is not just a medium for storytelling; it’s a goldmine for generating revenue.

What you will learn:

• What video monetization is

• Several ways in which publishers can monetize their videos, including ad revenue sharing, tiered subscriptions, sponsored content, third-party licensing, and P2P video networking

• The advantages of each monetization strategy

By Mahendra Choudhary

Is Google Trends equal across all countries despite having the majority share of search? Unfortunately, not...

Google SearchLiaison recently tweeted (X-ed?):

We don't read a page, see "reviewed by doctor" and somehow go "OK, that gets high E-E-A-T!" And that's because we don't have an E-E-A-T ranking factor. We look at a variety of things that align with those qualities.

That means: Just adding "reviewed by doctor" to boost your E-E-A-T signals won't work.

Google treats these pages as YMYL and having "reviewed by doctor" does contribute but it’s not a standalone ranking factor.

Reading between the lines: Google does rely on quality raters suggestions on whether a page that is ranking has a genuine/well-known expert included under the "reviewed by doctor" byline. (They won't say this openly but quality raters' inputs are heavily used for YMYL queries)

📖 News CMS providers

Choosing a CMS is one of the most important decisions for any news organization. In collaboration with International News Media Association (INMA), Google News Initiative has produced a guide on the leading CMS solutions for news publishers.

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🛠️ Google Quality Rater and Helpful Content Checker

This AI-powered Google Quality Rater & Helpful Content Checker scans your URL, references the quality rater and helpful guideline documents, and provides recommendations. If you pass, it will explain how with specific examples. If you fail, it will show you how to improve with specific examples.

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