SODP Dispatch - 7 April 2023

Happy Friday!

Let’s discuss the recently released Meta-commissioned report titled Meta and the News: Assessing the Value of the Bargain.

Our managing editor, Andrew Kemp, reviewed the report and shared his thoughts on the subject in his weekly Editor’s Note column:

The latest salvo in the ongoing tussle between Big Tech and the news media had me shaking my head in wonder this week.

A Meta-commissioned report, released on April 3, has rubbished publisher claims that Meta has disproportionately benefited from the sharing of news stories on Facebook. While the report came from the respected economic consulting firm NERA, the fact that the social media giant stumped up the cash for the research will inevitably raise some eyebrows.

As will how hard NERA came out swinging.

The report’s author Jeffrey Eisenach argued: “There is no economic foundation for news publishers’ contentions that Facebook is a ‘must have’ platform for publishers.”

He added: “The fact that Meta derives little economic value from the sharing of news content on Facebook explains why its willingness to pay for news content is, in most cases, zero.”

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FROM STATE OF DIGITAL PUBLISHING

TOP TOOLS

10 BEST VIDEO MONETIZATION PLATFORMS IN 2023

While there have been many forms of digital content, none are as prolific or as innovative as video. From the rise of YouTube to the massive powerhouse of Netflix, video monetization platforms have become a staple of almost every digital citizen.

For publishers, video content creation is an enticing way to optimize revenue and viewer engagement. YouTube, for example, has become the most effective channel for marketers, with the platform’s ad revenue almost reaching $8 billion in the final quarter of 2022. Research into engagement shows that videos are clicked on twice as often as images.

Videos offer a level of engagement greater than any other form of media thus far and video monetization platforms can tap into this content for a new stream of revenue. However, there are a number of factors to consider before choosing one.

To help publishers find a video monetization platform best suited for them, we’ve drawn up a list of the 10 best in 2023.

Read more

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BITE-SIZED INDUSTRY NEWS

SEOGoogle will retire first-click, linear, time decay, and position-based attribution models in GA4 and Google Ads in May and June, respectively. Read more

APPSSubstack introduced a new Notes feature that is designed to let users share posts, quotes, comments, images, links and ideas. Notes shared on the platform are displayed in a dedicated short-form feed that looks a lot like Twitter. Read more

AIMuck Rack launched PressPal, which uses AI to help draft a press release when prompted, scan for keywords and then recommend specific media targets based on the content. Read more

AIChris Moran, the Guardian’s head of editorial innovation, publishes an opinion piece on the publication’s response to ChatGPT making up fake Guardian articles. Read more

MONETIZATIONPost, a Twitter alternative of sorts that’s rethinking how publishers should engage with social media — and how they should monetize their readership — has opened its doors to the public. Read more

SEARCHGoogle plans to integrate conversational AI into its search engine, responding to rising competition from AI chatbots like ChatGPT. Read more

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