The Ad Lab experiment created an advertising network for independent media. Here’s what we learned
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Monday, January 31, 2022
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The Ad Lab experiment created an advertising network for independent media. Here’s what we learned“Of the 16 publishers who participated, four will receive checks of $1,000 or more. The average was $562.50 per site, although some with little digital traffic got substantially lower payouts.” By Stefanie Murray. |
What We’re Reading
Tubefilter / James Hale
“When TikTok becomes more successful, TikTokers become less successful.” →
“No matter how much money TikTok makes (its parent ByteDance brought in $58 billion in 2021), and no matter how many creators are in the creator fund, it pays U.S.-based creators $200 million per year. So, the more creators who join the fund and make good content that gets views, the less money there is to go around for everyone in the fund.”
The Guardian / Shaun Walker
Hungarian journalists who were targeted with Pegasus spyware are suing the Orbán regime →
“The invasive spyware allows its operator to take control of a target's mobile device, access all data, even from encrypted messaging apps, and turn on audio or video recording. It is only meant for use against terrorists and serious criminals, but the Pegasus Project revealed that Hungary appeared to be one of many countries where the tool was being abused.”
The New York Times / Sheera Frankel, Mike Isaac, and Ryan Mac
How Facebook is morphing into Meta →
“Its business is entrenched in online advertising and social networking. And while the shift may give Meta a head start on the internet's next phase, the metaverse remains a largely theoretical concept — unlike the 2012 move to mobile when smartphones were already being widely used.”
Politico / Joanne Kenan
The New York Times’s polarizing pandemic pundit, David Leonhardt →
“Over the last few months, a long-simmering critical conversation among public health experts about Leonhardt's take and his outsize influence has become more audible. And we don't just mean on Twitter…One letter to the Times from a group of prominent pandemic experts, obtained by Nightly (though with the full list of signatures withheld), called his reporting ‘irresponsible and dangerous.'”
Reuters / Shivam Patel and Elizabeth Culliford
Facebook is “pausing” new users from signing up for CrowdTangle →
“Meta, which disbanded the CrowdTangle team last year, has been under pressure to provide greater transparency into its platforms. The tool is used by organizations and individuals to follow, analyze and report on public content available on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit.”
Press Gazette / William Turvill
How The Seattle Times hit 81,000 digital subscribers while avoiding deep discounting and the volume chase →
“[We look at it from] a revenue standpoint, versus a ‘we are chasing this volume number.’ Because there are all kinds of terrible things that you can do to your long-term viability and sustainability that will drive that volume number.”
The Wall Street Journal / Benjamin Mullen and David Marcelis
Big hits draw people to a streaming service, but those new signups bail out quickly →
“Roughly half of U.S. viewers who signed up within three days of the release of ‘Hamilton’ [on Disney+], ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ [on HBO Max], and ‘Greyhound’ [on Apple TV+] were gone within six months, Antenna data show….Even if streaming services only retain half of the users they sign up during big bursts, that still translates into sizable numbers of longer-term subscribers.”
Bloomberg / Josh Eidelson
Journalists in the FT’s U.S. operation are unionizing →
“Employees involved in the drive said they've signed up more than two-thirds of a proposed bargaining unit of about 40 people and are asking the company to voluntarily recognize their union. In an emailed statement, the U.K.-based publisher's spokesperson Finola McDonnell said, ‘We respect the right of our staff to organize if they so choose.'”
Variety / Todd Spangler
Snap is renewing its contracts with media companies to produce shows for Snapchat Discover →
“Snap's deals with Disney, NBCU and ViacomCBS were finalized toward end of 2021. Brinker declined to comment on the financial details of the agreements ‘but they are obviously major, major strategic partners for us.’ At a high level, the pacts are revenue-sharing deals under which Snap and the partners split advertising sales.”
The Washington Post / Margaret Sullivan
Trump declared war on the media. Now proxy battles are being waged in U.S. courts. →
“All are defamation suits, and the mere names involved suggest just how hot those flames may get: Sarah Palin, the right-wing lightning rod who gleefully slammed the "lamestream media"; Project Veritas, the hidden-camera "sting" outfit that targets journalists and liberals; Fox News, the conservative cable network that morphed into the Trump White House's propaganda office; and the New York Times…”
The Verge / Emma Roth
Apple will now let you add seeeekrit apps to its App Store →
Users will be able to download them if they have a special link, but they won’t show up in the App Store if someone searches for them. “Apple notes that unlisted apps are ideal for ‘limited audiences,’ such as guests at a special event, members of an organization, research study participants, or a specific group of employees.”
The Washington Post / Erik Wemple
After Sean Hannity complained about their Covid editorial, the Salt Lake Tribune received dozens of threats from across the country →
“A couple of the threats were severe enough that the paper sent them to the Salt Lake City police department.” One sample: “Kill yourselves. Don’t worry about the unvaccinated, worry about if people start deciding to kill journalists.”
The Guardian / Helen Davidson
The Chinese government is finding new ways to intimidate foreign journalists, their Chinese colleagues, and their sources →
“The methods include online trolling, physical assaults, hacking and visa denials, as well as what appears to be official encouragement of lawsuits or threats of legal action against journalists, ‘typically filed by sources long after they have explicitly agreed to be interviewed.'”
The Guardian / Sian Cain
Spotify will direct listeners to accurate Covid information after Joe Rogan keeps blowing up in their faces →
“New content advisories will direct listeners of any podcast that discusses coronavirus to a dedicated website that ‘provides easy access to data-driven facts, up-to-date information as shared by scientists, physicians, academics and public health authorities around the world, as well as links to trusted sources.'”
Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt
Journalists say Twitter’s blue-check verification process is “irrational and opaque’ →
“…almost 80 freelance journalists have now added their names to a list of those who feel their applications have wrongly been rejected. Some staff journalists who have struggled to get a blue tick also feel Twitter's policies have been applied inconsistently.”
The Guardian / Mark Sweney
U.K. newspaper group Archant is already up for sale 18 months after a private equity buyout →
“The Norwich-based newspaper group, one of Britain's oldest publishers — co-founded in 1845 by the mustard magnates the Colman family — was sold to the investment group Rcapital in August 2020 in a deal that promised a ‘bright future’ for the company as the pandemic accelerated the decline in its already strained finances.”
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