How the Adpocalypse Will Help Fix News
During my 12 years at Bloomberg, I developed a die-hard addiction for a news tool that we used to blow our competition out of the water with. This tool, called simply the edit screen (EDIT <GO>), was a place where all the world’s stock exchange press feeds were directed for headline editing and publishing. With it, we beat the competition time after time.
And time after time, I was baffled by why the traders didn’t analyse the raw press releases themselves, which they all had access to, and instead chose to wait for the curated “red sticky” headlines to appear on their Bloomberg Terminals to aid them in their trading decision.
The reason was simple. Advanced tools helped us find key information faster than what traders did. Expert curation combined with advanced search tools was the winning formula. And still remains. Eventually, I left Bloomberg after establishing their Nordic technology coverage and the Helsinki bureau which at the height of the dot-com bubble housed the coverage of Europe’s most valuable firm.
Since then, global media has deteriorated substantially — both in value and in quality — as the shift from subscriber-led revenue models to advertising-based models have forced publishers to resort to clickbait. Advertisers, with their automated advertising robots, have risen in ranks so as to become our de-facto content curators.
Conversely, Bloomberg gained its cult-like status by doing the opposite. Instead of relying on advertising, Bloomberg News managed to gain relevance because its news unit remains financed mainly by its terminal sales. Still, even stalwarts like Bloomberg are opening up for disruption as technology startups start eating into its terminal sales.
But much to everyone’s cheers, today’s unloved ad-led revenue models are starting to crumble in a process nicknamed the adpocalypse as ad-weary readers are increasingly clinging to ad blockers to get a more serene ad-free browsing experience. What’s more, using blockers readers can experience faster loading times and an improved battery life of up to 20 percent when on mobile.
Small wonder that people are hoarding ad blockers and making ad lobbyists sour. Personally, I’m using F-Secure’s new blocker on all my portable devices. To meet that soaring demand, Firefox recently moved even further by launching a pre-installed ad blocker into its browser. Soon, surfers everywhere will unknowingly block intrusive ad-driven content by default.
Although seeming hostile at first, the shift from an ad-led revenue model may turn out to be a blessing for both publishers and advertisers going forward. But while a sustainable solution is still pending, some publishers are resorting to fighting fire with fire by paying their way around ad blockers or by blocking the ad blockers.
But not only ads have throttled effective news distribution. While two thirds of news readers have downloaded a news app, only one third access them weekly. Today’s market is simply too fragmented for efficient access to news. But sooner than later there will be a sustainable solution; one that satisfies the needs of the readers, the publishers and the journalists (maybe even some advertisers).
One of the startups that are trying to address this is Stockholm-based Techsite.io. By relying on a combination of manual curation and algorithms, much like Bloomberg’s edit screen, Techsite.io aims to bring the most relevant technology news to the reader.
An expertly curated platform that houses an effective distribution mechanism for content-owner proceeds may be what the world is waiting for. And the current online advertising adpocalypse could be the event that will launch new distribution platforms into escape velocity as publishers start managing their revenue models to meet the change in the online advertising environment.
That said, Sweden may house the perfect environment for such a platform. Notwithstanding Sweden’s increasingly dominant role in the fair distribution of content-owner proceeds, the Nordic country may also be an internationally-trusted source for balanced news and opinion curation. Consistently ranking as one of the least corrupt nations in the world with one of the freest press, Sweden could nurture a generally accepted culture for unbiased opinion and fair distribution of content-owner proceeds.
With publishers increasingly calling for paywalls amid the upsurge of ad blockers, the media industry is ripe for an overarching solution where advertising won’t drive the outcome. While the space has seen previous attempts, I’m optimistic to such a degree that I decided to join Sweden’s Techsite.io — founded by Qi Cao and Magnus Bergman, first investor in Truecaller and Prezi — as a first investor.
With it, I may have found the cure for my Bloomberg edit-screen addiction.
This article first appeared on Techsite.io, Jan. 22, 2016.
