SODP Dispatch - 26 May 2023

Happy Friday!

Today, let’s discuss where the relations between publishers and social media platforms are headed.

Our managing editor, Andrew Kemp, discusses the subject in his weekly Editor’s Note column:

I can’t say I was overly surprised when I read earlier this month that Facebook’s pivot away from news, reported last year, had led to a drop in traffic to a host of publications.

As tensions between the social media network and publishers have continued to escalate, Facebook parent Meta has made no bones over its distaste at being made to pay for news shared on its platform.

I’m sure most of us can remember the debacle that was Meta’s decision to remove news from Facebook Australia in 2021, before lifting the ban a few days later. Since then we have seen reports of Meta reallocating resources from news and a Meta-commissioned report that dismissed the importance of news to Facebook’s business.

Meta policy communications director Andy Stone even warned that the tech giant would be “forced to consider removing news” from its platform if the US Congress were to pass the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. At the same time, the UK has introduced similar laws.

The growing wave of regulation over news sharing on Google and Meta has forced both companies to sit down with publishers and begin hashing out deals. For Google, the answer lay partly in developing its News Showcase program. But for Meta? Seems the more palatable option has been to slowly starve news publishers of traffic.

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FROM STATE OF DIGITAL PUBLISHING

^{DIGITAL PUBLISHING}
DIGITAL PUBLISHING TRENDS OF 2023

Between inflationary pressures and recession fears, digital publishers more than ever need to identify industry trends that can improve their business outcomes and reader relationships.

There are three overarching themes that dominate the current trends among digital publishers — technological, business and audience development.

Digital publications are embracing AI to boost performance and efficiency, while also considering the ways in which it can impact the editorial side of the business. Increased efficiency is critical in the industry, with rising costs placing added importance to that old adage “doing more with less”.

On the business side, media companies are also looking for efficiency gains as they strive to reach new audiences and multiply revenue streams.

Justin Hansen, COO and co-founder of media advisory and analytics service Media Tradecraft, told State of Digital Publishing (SODP): “Publishers will focus more on content data, including bridging editorial with revenue analytics to help drive effective decisions and profitability.”

So, let’s look more closely at several important digital publishing trends of 2023 and the impact they’re having on the industry.

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^ADVERTISING
WHAT IS AD REVENUE? AD-BASED REVENUE MODELS EXPLAINED

While publishers have a number of options when it comes to monetizing their content, the most popular remains via advertising.

In the fast-paced digital landscape, the advertising-based revenue model serves as the lifeblood for most publishers. Online advertising revenue allows publishers to reach and build new audiences, without having to overcome any reluctance at paying for content.

With digital ad spend in the US set to surpass two-thirds of the ad industry’s total this year, understanding ad revenue is essential for publishers trying to map out their business strategy.

Let’s shed some light on digital advertising to understand how ad-based revenue models support publishers’ content creation efforts.

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BITE-SIZED INDUSTRY NEWS

^{ORIGINAL REPORTING}
The New York Times launches “enhanced bylines,” with more information about how journalists did the reporting. Read more

^SEO
The Google helpful content update will soon be able to not just identify unhelpful content and demote that content but also be able to identify helpful content deep inside the web and promote it. Read more

^SEARCH
Google is introducing new ways for users to verify information on Search. The search giant is launching new features called “Perspectives” and “About this author,” while also expanding some of its current tools, including “About this result.” Read more

^TRENDS
Chartbeat data for 1,350 publishers: Twitter referral traffic fell from 1.9% in April 2018 to 1.2% in April 2023; medium-sized publishers' traffic dropped 40%. Read more

^MONETIZATION
BuzzFeed debuts a Verishop-powered online store for its lifestyle commerce brand Goodful, its first store combining licensed and curated goods. Read more

^SEO
Google has announced a search system named “topic authority” to help surface relevant, expert, and knowledgeable content in Google Search and Google News. Read more

May