Google Discover - publishers poison or cure?
Plus: Paywall introduction learnings, a positive media in Southport and one year of Alma
Good afternoon,
And writing this from a chilly Autumnal view in Preston, where the temperature has rapidly dropped away with winter coming into view. This newsletter has been going for more than a year now - judging by the open rates it is more appreciated than I thought it would be. Thank you for subscribing and continuing to read, I find it a useful place to collect together interesting articles, blog posts, social media posts and more which go across my feed when it comes to publishing, media, digital journalism and more.
Let’s dive into this week’s digest, starting with a hot topic at the moment. The continuing rise and rise of Google Discover as a source of referral traffic.
Publishers hooked on Google Discover traffic risk race to the bottom - Barry Adams - writing in Press Gazette there’s a deep-dive, and warning, from SEO consultant Barry. For those not aware, Google Discover is built into Android devices (swipe left on home screen for most to find it) and is also built into a number of other Google search products. It comes up with recommended stories to read, based on interest-indicators, location and more.
Barry argues becoming over-reliant on Discover, in the way many became on Facebook (particularly Facebook Suggested For You), is a ‘race to the bottom’,
There’s also a good read from the Digiday summit where my former colleague Martin Little outlines the steps Reach, the UK’s largest commercial publisher, is taking to optimise for Discover.
It’s highly unlikely you’re going to see your bread and butter news traffic coming from Discover, this is and has always been very volatile, but for lifestyle-focused content (think the old features supplements in print: money, travel, personal finance, property, gardening) then Discover is essentially opening up a mass audience for many of those to now find a digital life.
The risk, as ever, is one design change from Google or them deciding to favour their own content (such as YouTube videos) in Discover and the game’s gone…
A new direction - Ian Carter - I’ve featured Ian’s thoughts on introducing a paywall approach and subscription strategy at Illife on here before. He shared recently a very candid and honest assessment of where they had got to. That’s been picked up in some fiery headlines due to the comments editors and journalists have received. The bit that stuck out for me is the blended approach, rather than treating the whole portfolio in one swoop, there’s a different tactic being used depending on how the title’s audience is predominantly made up.
How a different approach to local journalism played a special role after tragedy struck in Southport- BehindLocalNews - I know Andrew Brown well so it was good to see his approach to building a different kind of local media in Southport come into the spotlight in the wake of the attacks. I’m glad Andy chose to cover what happened and there’s no doubt he’s been a tremendous force for good since what took place in late July. Positioning a brand as a constructive champion for a place, an interesting learning from what Stand Up For Southport is doing.
And there’s the round-up for this week, if nothing else it proves efforts to sustain local and digital media in the UK are definitely happening, are varied and ‘there’s more than one way to skin a cat’ as my Dad used to say.
We’ll finish with a couple of anniversaries, the first is Alma - the audience development consultancy I launched with Shirah Bamber and Luke Beardsworth - has reached one year of trading anniversary. A huge thank you to all our clients, partners, supporters and anyone who has ever taken an interest. We had a quick lunch out on Monday to celebrate the occasion.
And well done to Matt Millington - who launched Story+ and Leeds+ four years ago - and has recently celebrated a business anniversary too. I think what he’s doing and growing is really inspiring, taking those core journalism skills and creating something new in the social video space. From a small number, something hefty can grow, but if you don’t go out and get those first 500 or so followers, you’ll never get the 10,000 without getting the 500 first.
Thanks for reading this week, hope those prove useful and thought-provoking.
Keep going.
Ed
Poison and you know it 😅