Vancouver Sun - If you're reading this in the newspaper you're among the 95% of Canadians who turn to traditional media for your general news.
If you're reading this online, you could be among the 42% who use some form of online media for their news.
Those are among the findings of the national media choice and trust poll conducted by IDC Canada for the Information Technology Association of Canada, which concluded that while the Internet has changed people's consumption patterns for breaking news, when it comes to general news traditional media is still the entrenched choice for most Canadians.
Online content has changed consumption patterns for breaking news with 82% of poll respondents looking to traditional media -- newspapers, radio and television -- for that news.
"It's clear that Canadians are traditionalists, and overwhelmingly turn to television, newspapers, and radio for trusted news," said ITAC president Bernard Courtois. "But 65% of Canadian households have high-speed Internet, and this high level of adoption is causing a shift in behaviour, as Internet news outlets begin to creep into the media mix."
The survey, conducted among 1,000 Canadians across all regions, found that 42% access some form of online media for general news and 21% look to online sources for breaking news.
Younger Canadians, aged 18 to 24, tend more to look online for news, with 50% of people in that age group likely to get their information online.
Television rated as the top source for general and breaking news. Online forums have low use but the bigger users of them are the MTV generation and early boomers.
The study concluded age is not necessarily an indicator of adoption.
When respondents were asked where they generally go for news, more than 70% -- in all age groups -- cited television. Among the 50-plus-year-olds, that number climbed to 80%. Among all age groups close to 50% said they read the newspaper and among the 50-plus crowd, that climbed to more than 60%.
Close to 50% of those polled said they listened to the radio for news, except among the so-called Echo generation in which only 33% opted for radio news.
Online news attracted more than 30% of respondents across all age groups except for those who are 50 and over. Online portals attracted 35% of the MTV generation.
People with higher incomes tended to access online news the most. Among respondents who reported annual incomes of $100,000-plus, online news came second with 39% of respondents, after television at 72%. Radio was third at 32%.
The use of television for news drops with age, according to the study, while radio drops among the MTV and Echo generations. By comparison, online portals jump with the MTV and Echo generations and MTV and Gen X generations are the biggest consumers of online news.
The study also found larger families access and trust online news more than smaller families and French respondents trust online media more than their English counterparts.
Online news sources face a credibility challenge with only 11.5% of respondents saying they believe online media is unbiased and 12% believing that it is accurate.
"As was the case when broadcast media came along to challenge print, any new news media is viewed with skepticism, and the Internet is no different," said Courtois.
"Once the industry begins to establish trusted checks and balances, and online news media becomes mainstream, this medium will become a more credible news source for the Canadian public."
Canadians stick to usual media for news, poll finds
Citizen journalism dominates online news in 2007
Here are the top CyberJournalist.net stories of 2007. Not surprisingly, citizen journalism and user-generated content stories overwhelmingly dominate the top 10.
Top CyberJournalist.net stories of 2007
-
New York Times launches user-generated features
-
2007 Online Journalism Awards - Finalists
-
Citizen Journalism: From Pamphlet to Blog
-
CNN to launch user-generated video show on-air
-
AP partners with citizen journalism site
-
Guardian to become 24/7 Web-first newspaper
-
Eyewitness video of Virginia Tech shootings
-
Sneak peaks at USAToday.com design
-
Sulzberger: ‘I don’t care’ if we’re printing Times in 5 years
-
Washington Post issues blog guidelines
BusinessWeek layoffs: will all magazines die?
Mashable - It’s the end of the year, and layoffs are sadly an expected tragedy that comes with year-end business assessments. This year in particular was pretty rough on the printed media industry.
After continued declines in subscriptions, newspapers and magazines found it necessary to shift gears, focus a bit more on online distribution models (some even ad-supported), and quite a few people were let go in the process.
Most recently, Business 2.0 was completely cut from the Time Inc. family, while the New York Times recently instituted a temporary hiring freeze.
And now BuisnessWeek is the latest to do the same. According to an Alley Insider report, 8 to 10 staffers have been let go, including national editor Anthony Bianco and photo editor Larry Lippman.
While BusinessWeek’s layoff focuses on the printed side of things, layoffs have been an unfortunate occurrence for some web-based businesses as well. AOL, Eons, Snocap and even Google have had to trim staff in order to compete more effectively with their online businesses.
Holiday e-commerce spending reaches $14b, up 17% over last year
More than $14 billion has been spent online during the first 32 days (November 1 – December 2) of the November – December 2007 holiday season, said a new comScore report. This marks a 17% gain versus the corresponding days last year. The heaviest online spending day of the season thus far was Cyber Monday (November 26) with $733 million in sales.
According to the report:
Video games, consoles & accessories continues to be the hottest online retail category, rising 145% in November versus the corresponding days last year, while furniture, appliances & equipment (up 45%) and sport & fitness (up 30%) are also performing well. Three of the most popular holiday season categories, toys, consumer electronics, and books & magazines, are each growing at 17%, coinciding with total online retail spending growth.
Fastest Growing Retail E-Commerce Categories by Dollar Sales
November 1-30 vs. Corresponding Days in 2006
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Percent Change in Category Spending ($)
Video Games, Consoles & Accessories
145%
Furniture, Appliances & Equipment
45%
Sport & Fitness
30%
Toys
17%
Consumer Electronics
17%
Books & Magazines
17%
Apparel & Accessories
16%
Computer Hardware
15%
Music, Movies & Videos
14%
Home & Garden
14%
Source: comScore, Inc.
Full story here.
網上廣告 效益遠比想像大
明報 - 早前有調查指出，香港人平均每周花16小時上網，較用於其他傳統媒體的時間都要長。可見要吸引本地消費者的注視，互聯網作為一個廣告媒體的重要性不容忽視。然而，卻不是人人都懂得利用互聯網的優勢，白白浪費廣告開支之餘，對網上賣廣告產生各式誤會。4As廣告公司DDB互動媒體總監譚家強 (Patrick)稱：「仲有好多人以為網上廣告只以青年人為對象，停留在『.com年代』的模式，尤其是中小企(在網上廣告)的發展，最少落後外國7至 10年。」
Patrick表示，相比以前需要多番解釋，才能說服客人試行網上廣告，近年客人多為主動要求。「好多人知道要做，但係不明白如何做。」他指出，最常見的誤解是「互聯網只是銷售青年人用品的渠道」，但從「e-banking」的普及，便可見30至45歲以上，最有消費力的一群，也是互聯網的常客。「這班人在科網熱潮的年代，正好是20歲左右的青年人。」
忌以訪客數點擊率衡量效益
另一個常見的誤解是，用傳統廣告的方式衡量網上廣告的成敗，Patrick稱為「.com boom後遺症」。「客人建立一個網站，常常會以到訪人數作為一個指標，但這是錯的。」他以一個商場為比喻，「應該睇纒到訪者去邊度，有沒有看到你想推廣的東西，就好似入到時代廣場，訪客係去鰦咖啡店，還是看運動用品。數碼技術讓我們可以非常準確地計算得到廣告的成效。」
Patrick笑說，曾經有客戶表示不要賣Banner ad(網站上的廣告橫額)，因為點擊率只有低於1%。「這是以為自己識，但其實唔識，他忘記了Banner ad的作用是提升訪客對品牌的認知，有如掛一張海報，點擊率不是唯一的考量。」又曾有客人認為在香港購物太方便，網上購物根本行不通，這又是另一「.com boom」的後患。「其實根據我們一個調查發現，有23%人在網上看過產品後，之後會親自落去店舖買。因此，我們會建議客戶多在網上做產品介紹。」
網上廣告還有一個很重要的優點，就是價錢較低廉。「在電視台賣一個廣告，隨時要花上百萬元，如果投放在網上廣告，可以用1年！」他笑說。因此，網上廣告可說是非常適合推廣開支有限的中小型企業，例如google的adSense，會為廣告商自動篩選與公司業務相關的網站，以點擊率為收費指標，公司又可以設定每月的開支上限，以防超出預算。
中小企思維落後 忽略商機
但Partick直言，本港的中小企在這方面仍需很多教育，「在加拿大，連街口的乾洗店都會有自己的網站。香港(中小企)則仍存在很多『.com boom後遺症』，令他們最少(較外國)落後7至10年。」事實上，公司可以透過自建網站介紹產品，減少顧客滯留在店舖的時間，對小商戶而言可說是求之不得。
不過，網上廣告並非無敵。它的方便和互動性，也可能為廣告商戶帶來麻煩。最簡單的例子，就是經常出現在新聞版面的假銀行網站。Patrick說，其實要複製一個網站一點都不困難。如果有人故意造假網站，並惡意發放虛假資訊，或者記錄網民的個人資料，後果可能非常重。
互動性高 品牌經驗難控制
此外，由於互聯網的互動性太高，公司對品牌的控制會較困難，例如在討論區內，誰能保證沒有人會講該品牌的壞話呢？「一些高檔品牌，在雜誌落廣告前，要確定前後10多頁的內容，因為它們對顧客的『品牌經驗』十分覑緊，而互聯網偏偏那麼難以控制，故此很多高檔品牌都很怕做網上廣告，至近年才發現，網上廣告已成為趨勢，才開始做少少。」
阿里媽媽 成內地最大網上廣告平台
文匯報 - 阿里巴巴集團昨宣布，其新創建的阿里媽媽網站已成為內地最大的網上廣告交易平台。阿里巴巴稱，8月10日正式上線的阿里媽媽網站已匯集了超過15萬家中小網站和超過13.5萬的個人博客站點，超過38萬個廣告位，註冊會員超過100萬，覆蓋中小網站總流量超過 10億PV/天。目前，阿里媽媽仍以驚人的速度增長，每天新增近4,000家中小網站，新增1萬名個人博客，新增2萬餘廣告位。
每天新增2萬廣告位
集團新聞發言人金建杭表示，阿里媽媽為中國數千萬中小企業和中小網站提供了一個切合實際的商業模式和收入模式，阿里媽媽的使命是要讓有價值的網站成長起來，使他們成為明天中國的Facebook、Myspace、Youtube。
他續稱，阿里媽媽目前每天成交廣告位2萬多筆。人力網站智聯招聘、中行(3988)、中信行(0998)等多家金融機構，以及一些網遊公司已和阿里媽媽簽約，通過阿里媽媽網站投放廣告。
截至6月30日，阿里巴巴集團旗下B2B公司(1688)國內外註冊用戶超過2,400萬，而集團旗下另外的分支亦發展迅速，如在國內C2C市場份額超過80%的淘寶網，6月底擁有4,000萬的會員和數百萬的店舖，支付寶公司也擁有了5,200萬註冊用戶。
Nielsen tracks TV content on the web through digital watermarks
Clickz - Though a partnership with Digimarc, Nielsen will use digital watermarking and fingerprinting in online content to provide reporting, and tracking on copyrighted materials. The digital watermarking service is called Nielsen Digital Media Manager.
In addition to tracking for copyright security and compliance, the watermark allows clients to realize the value of their digital content, promote the expansion of Internet-distirbuted media, and facilitate a number of revenue streams. Those include ad-pairing, e-commerce, royalty reporting. Nielsen plans to start by tracking TV content online, but expects to expand to other online content categories and media types.
"We started with TV because we already do the necessary encoding - or watermarking - when we measure TV ratings. The last thing a video stream sees before it leaves a TV station is a Nielsen encoder that puts a digital code on the programming that our home meters can read. That same code can be used to measure TV programming when it is posted on the Internet," said Nielsen company spokesperson Gary Holmes.
Full story here.
Ask readers to tell you what stories to cover, investigate
The Editors' Weblog - The BBC Magazine asks, "How can papers afford to give away DVDs?" The answer as attributed to media critic Roy Greenslade: "They can't, at least not if they want to make money."
The article goes on to say that DVD giveaways and like promotions are mere ploys for "very short circulation spikes." Where "Editors hope people will buy the paper for the DVD and become loyal readers, leading to long-term stability," most people seem to be buying the paper solely for the giveaway. "It's getting to the stage in a few years where you'll get a free newspaper with your CD or DVD," continued Greenslade. So from this article, it seems that giveaways are not the answer to maintaining or attracting more of a readership.
But the format of the article itself gives insight into a way in which newspapers could attract readers.
It was printed on the BBC's website in a section called "Who, What, Why?" which allows reader feedback and questions, some of which are answered by the BBC for further investigation into a story.
Feedback for this particular article, for instance, included a suggestion that the BBC do a piece on the DVD retail market. Some was quite telling of how consumers feel about newspaper promotions; people get annoyed at having to watch the advertising at the beginning of the DVD and real news readers hate finding their paper full of inserts and giveaways. One said straight out, "Perhaps they should stop giving away freebies and start concentrating on content."
That is what it comes down to: is a newspaper's function to publish outstanding content or is it to sell papers through any means necessary? Maybe by including their readers in such a way as the BBC has done, newspapers will improve content by learning what their readers or potential readers really want and will conversely be able to sell more papers through this attention to public desire instead of luring them briefly with giveaways.
Adwords adds local listings
Clickz - Google is looking to spice up its local business ad listings with a new user interface design called AdWords Local PlusBox. The updated design will give ads that are located above organic search results the ability to expand and display maps, addresses, phone numbers and driving directions to the business. Google doesn't plan on charging extra for the display features, but will continue to charge customers when a user clicks on a link to their landing page.
Full story here.
Online political spending rising rapidly
ClickZ_- Spending by political advertisers on Internet ads, marketing and promotional efforts is poised this election cycle to be 150 percent higher than the last presidential election cycle. However, although a new PQ Media report shows it could hit $73 million by next November, Web revenues from political advertisers are still a drop in the bucket.
The preliminary Political Media Buying 2008 forecast from PQ estimates $4.5 billion will be spent by political advertisers in '08 and leading up to this year's presidential primaries on all media measured, including broadcast and cable TV, direct mail, PR, newspaper and Internet. The estimated $73 million sliver expected to go towards the Web represents a measly 1.6 percent of the whole.
Growth is steady, though. In the 2004 presidential election cycle, political advertisers spent $29 million on the Web, and during the '06 congressional elections, they put $40 million online. While the numbers are relatively small compared to broadcast TV and direct mail, the anticipated 150 percent leap between the '04 and '08 presidential elections -- when typically far more money is spent compared to non-presidential election cycles -- is a clear sign that the Internet is gaining momentum when it comes to political spending.
Online media spending doesn't mean just display or search advertising. As reported by PQ in 2006, the majority of dollars spent by political advertisers on the Web will go towards e-mail marketing efforts, the method of choice for online fundraising pitches.
Full story here.
Microsoft releases new tools for online advertisers
Bloggingstocks - Microsoft will be rolling out new tools and services soon to encourage more internet advertisers and producers to create better online ad campaigns, the software giant said this week. Naturally, the new tools will work with Microsoft's adCenter and Live Search environments.
Full story here.
Canadian e-commerce heating up
Once cool to Internet shopping, Canadian consumers are going online in record numbers.
emarketer - For a number of years no one paid much attention to Canadian B2C e-commerce. There simply wasn’t much of a market there.
Now all online retailers are looking to the north.
”The Canadian dollar’s rise against the US dollar has led to a surge in Canadian cross-border online shopping,” says Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report, Canada B2C E-Commerce: The Barriers Melt. “It is providing a big boost to home-grown Canadian e-commerce, too.”
Even before the currency shift, there was evidence of Canadian B2C e-commerce taking off. In April 2007, Statistics Canada reported that online retail sales in Canada grew by a healthy 70% in 2006.
”eMarketer estimates that this year Canadians will spend C$15.7 billion (US$14.7 billion) online on products and services such as online travel reservations and event tickets,” says Mr. Grau. “We also include purchases made with foreign Web retailers, the majority of which are on US sites.”
By 2011, online spending will more than double, reaching C$37.2 billion (U$30.2 billion).
”Of course, Canadian B2C e-commerce still has plenty of room to grow,” says Mr. Grau.
Even taking into account that Canada has one-ninth the population of the US, it is still a disproportionately small e-commerce market. Only 78% of Canadian online users are online shoppers, compared to nearly 85% of US users who shop online.
”In addition, the average Canadian online buyer will spend less than a US online buyer this year,” says Mr. Grau.
The major shift in the size of the Canadian B2C market will come as more Canadian retailers move online.
”Even now, only about 15% of retailers in Canada sell online,” says Mr. Grau. “But those that are taking the plunge say an online presence is critical to acquiring new customers.”
To find out more about what is causing the Canadian market to heat up, read the new eMarketer report, Canada B2C E-Commerce: The Barriers Melt.
Print and online hybrid will be the 'future newspaper'
journalism.co.uk - Danish newspaper The Jutland Post has created a hybrid print and online edition to prepare itself for what it sees as the future of the digital newspaper.
The JP2, which was developed in partnership with Microsoft, is essentially an e-paper with live feeds that regularly and automatically update the content featured on the platform.
The technology is similar to that used by the New York Times Reader and The Daily Mail's e-paper, with a feed linking the Post's content management system with the JP2.
"For us it's a major step towards digital publishing. When the digital paper comes, we will be ready," Jens Nicolaisen, director of electronic media at the Jutland Post, told Journalism.co.uk.
"It [the feed] connects with the articles automatically, so we can generate the JP2 without any journalists or production staff.
"That means we are able to distribute the whole newspaper or different parts on any given platform in any different way."
The JP2, Nicolaisen added, offers a model for content distribution more tailored to readers' demands by combining elements of print, online and RSS, and allowing readers to read offline or print out a paper version.
However, it is limited to being currently available only to PC users.
"If you look at the audience as different reader segments, we want to be able to reach as many as possible," he said.
"With the regular PDF version of the newspaper, people like it, because they can recognise that this is how it is presented in the paper.
"But the problem with that e-paper is that it's not using the technical possibilities that you have in the computer."
Full story here.
AFP buys stake in citizen journalism site Citizenside
journalism.co.uk - Agence France-Presse (AFP) has bought a 30% stake in the citizen journalism platform Scooplive, which will be renamed Citizenside.
AFP has stated that it will not take part in editorial decisions on the site, which allows users to publish and sell films and photos for commission.
According to a press statement from the agency, it is hoped the investment will allow AFP to 'get closer to readers' and to bring the site's content to AFP's customers for use in their own news production.
"This is for us a purely commercial and technical experiment in the Web 2.0 field, to help our clients, mainly in the media field," said Pierre Louette, AFP chairman.
AFP's investment was matched by another French firm IAM, but the remaining shares for the site, which was set up in 2006, will stay with the platform's creators.
"Citizenside will capitalize on its founders and new partners experience to create a link between two worlds: professional journalism and amateur reporting. We will thus be able to offer good quality documents in real time," said Matthieu Stefani, a founder of Scooplive, in a news release from Citizenside.com.
AP moves towards all-digital platform
NYT - After a decade of watching newspapers and rival wire services shrink, The Associated Press, the 161-year-old news cooperative, is refitting itself to handle the 24-hour news cycle it helped create.
“You have to adjust to the marketplace,” said Jim Kennedy, The A.P.’s vice president for strategic planning. “The new generation of consumers has completely different habits.”
To feed those habits and manage the news cycle more efficiently, The A.P. will change the way it files, edits and distributes stories, opening at least four regional editing hubs as part of a plan it calls AP2.0.
It is also expanding its multimedia packages for entertainment, business and sports reports. And the company is moving toward an all-digital platform it calls the “Digital Cooperative.”
The changes, The A.P. believes, will counter what hampered some of its rivals, like Dow Jones Newswires and Reuters, which, over the last decade, have cut their staffs as revenues have fallen.
Kathleen Carroll, The A.P.’s executive editor, said the company’s responsibility was to “preserve our future, so that we can continue to provide news from remote places,” and to “rev up our journalism” to make it compelling to customers.
The idea behind the regional hubs, which mimic an overhaul of The A.P.’s foreign operations earlier in the decade, is to reduce editing gridlock at its major filing desks, including that in New York. The regional hubs will handle coverage in their areas, and the New York desk will focus on “the stories that are the tip top of the day,” Ms. Carroll said.
Mr. Kennedy said another goal was to get editors in the regional bureaus back into reporting, which would increase the amount of content, and to reduce the number of people who work on an article during a news cycle.
Full story here.
CRTC looks at online broadcasting
mediacaster - In remarks at the nextMedia Conference last week, CRTC Commissioner Rita Cugini outlined the Commission's particular interest in the online audio and audiovisual services that deliver experiences similar to conventional television and radio, part of the CRTC New Media Project Initiative.
Commissioner Cugini noted that the CRTC has not made it mind on the challenging issues facing the new media industry in Canada, nor does in know how continuing initiatives to address the situation will turn out.
Commissioner Cugini mentioned the three questions the CRTC is trying to answer: First, is it necessary to develop measures to ensure that broadcasting delivered over the internet and through mobile devices contributes to the objectives of the Broadcasting Act? Second, if it is necessary, can it be done? And finally, if it can be done, how should it be done?
The CRTC first took a look at new media in 1999; in March of this year, it launched a new New Media Initiative, the first phase of which is now completed.
The meeting and industry conference in Toronto was an important part of the second phase, the Commission described, saying it will issue a report in 2008 followed by public hearings.
