Market Data

2011

The iPad continues to frustrate magazine publishers who counted on the Apple tablet as a digital lifeline for their ailing traditional businesses. A key sticking point has been Apple's reluctance to allow publishers like Hearst and Conde Nast charge for subscriptions for iPad editions of their titles, as they do offline.

A New York Times story today highlights that publishers feel having to charge on an individual basis (typically at the same cost as a print copy) is holding back their progress in attracting readers to the iPad. Only a select few publications, such as The Economist and News Corp.'s soon-to-launch iPad-only newspaper, The Daily, are able to sell their apps on a subscription basis.

Underscoring the unwillingness to plunk down $5 for a magazine issue in the App Store, a new study by research firm Knowledge Networks appearing in Ad Age found 86% of iPad owners said they would be willing to accept ads to access free content such as TV shows and magazine or newspaper articles. Only 13% said they were willing to pay any fee for iPad content, and only an extra $2.60 on average.

Full article:http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=143098&nid=122736

2011

The frustration that the country’s magazine and newspaper publishers feel toward Apple can sound a lot like a variation on the old relationship gripe, “can’t live with ’em, may get left behind without ’em.”

Since Apple introduced the iPad last year, publishers have poured millions of dollars into apps in the hopes that the device could revolutionize the industry by changing the way magazines are read and sold to consumers.

But at the same time, the industry is discovering a lesson already learned by music labels and Hollywood studios: Apple may offer new opportunities with its devices, but it exacts a heavy toll. Magazine publishers argue in particular that limiting magazine sales on the iPad to single issues (except in a handful of cases) has hamstrung publishers from fully capitalizing on a new and lucrative business model.

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/business/media/17apple.html?_r=1

2010

Last week, Google announced that it had created new metatags for Google News that would help identify original stories and consequently, which publication got the scoop. The initiative aims to tackle the fact that hundreds of articles will often appear based around one story, and seeks to credit original stories with higher rankings in Google News search results. This change in ranking won't happen immediately: Google first wants to gather enough data to test the method's effectiveness.

The two tags are 'syndication-source,' which publishers should use to indicated the preferred URL for a syndicated article and 'original-source' which should indicate the URL of the first article to report on this story.

Full article: http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/11/googles_new_metatags_for_news_content_wi.php

2010

European publishers, rushing to develop ever glossier applications for Apple Inc.’s iPad, are turning to an old-fashioned prop for growth: the classified ad.

Hit by falling circulation as readers increasingly get their information from the Internet, publishers of newspapers and magazines are buying up online classified-ad sites, mostly for real estate, jobs and cars. The moves are aimed at regaining ground in an advertising market they once dominated and that has been taken over by websites where posts can be placed for free.

“The motivation to develop online classifieds is very strong,” said Alex DeGroote, a media analyst at Panmure Gordon in London. “Traditionally, classifieds were what supported the journalism.”

Germany’s Axel Springer AG, whose publications include “Bild” and “Die Welt,” and Norway’s Schibsted ASA, which puts out “Aftenposten” and “Dagens Medisin,” are among companies that have been on the prowl for such classified sites.

Full article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-17/friendly-publisher-seeks-readers-as-ipads-inspire-hunt-for-web-classifieds.html