Attention Pays for Newsgator
January 10, 2008
RSS is a completely radical communications technology.
Communication is already valuable, and yet how much more valuable is it when automated?
Somehow though when you try to explain it to people there is often a muted response. (In case you are a fellow enthusiast, showing is much more effective than telling).
Nevertheless, I feel the tide is just about to come in.
One of the leading protagonists of this world changing technology is Newsgator, and today they started to give away their RSS Readers, for free. Some cracking solutions they have too.
Sometimes things you read ‘chime’, and today is one of those days. I think it’s called synchronicity (by Carl Jung) which is ironic in some respects.
I was reading a long exposition on the effects of technology (all driven by RSS) on journalism, over on the Publishing 2.0 blog.
As an aside, I like reading journalism blogs, because it’s fun when journalists argue in written form. They know how to wheedle a point. And if all else fails, they express their anger in the most delightful way.
From the comments, it is clear that the panic isn’t far from setting in, and disruption is in full progress, illustrated by one of the comments on media’s digital future: he says
“I feel a rather pertinent point is being missed out: who is going to pay for it?
The product is being given away for free, advertisers are looking for more targeted audiences and the powers-that-be do not want to spend to invest.”
And summarises
“Before this revolution really kicks off, we should be looking at defining what we expect of journalists and others in this move to a fully digital era.”
Here is the evening news: The revolution already kicked off, and amusingly for me the commenter would seem to have answered his own question. (Does any Journalist who doesn’t run a blog miss the point?)
Advertisers are looking for more targeted audiences, and importantly, in the last few years Google has introduced a radical concept.
You can start to measure the results of money you spend on marketing -you can’t do that with print advertising.
Completely unheard of only a couple of years ago, but this has resulted in the quickest growing company ever created. Advertisers will pay Billions to have their message played to people.
Google turnover
- 2005 - $6B
- 2006 - $10.6B
- 2007 - Extrapolated to $17B
Whilst Advertisers pay per person vaguely interested (voluntarily clicking), Paul Sweeney illustrates the next point, that those being advertised to are also happy to be more closely targeted - a win win.
Knowing what people are interested in looks like it will pay off big time - and who knows how much having that better picture of the audience might just mean.
That’s where Newsgator are placing their bets, as along with a number of other good reasons, Jeff Nolan explains that discovering the ‘reader’s attention is a key driver to making the client software free. (APML has also become part of the plan)
I admired the company the first presentation I got about 15 months ago, Synchronisation is a great strategy as RIM proved all to well.
So, this is just another good decision, and (one of?) the original investors agrees.
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