Google develops data playbook for news publishers in collaboration with MightyHive

Google has launched a playbook titled "Google News Initiative APAC Data Lab" in an effort to work with the news industry to help journalism thrive in the digital age. Done in collaboration with S4's MightyHive, the playbook seeks to empower publishers to make a case for a change in their organisation by documenting how data science and analytics can help publishers improve their content planning, keep visitors on-site with better content recommendations, and improve site revenue.

It also provides insight into how and why each case would be suitable for a publisher, the necessary prerequisites, the intended change as a result of the implementation, and the mechanics behind how these implementations will achieve better performance.

In developing the playbook, MighyHive assessed the maturity of publishers across three key areas: improving reader engagement, increasing direct revenue relationship with readers, and driving revenue from advertisers. It also consulted six publishers across the APAC region and identified where their data capabilities could benefit from the agency's capabilities. These publishers include South China Morning Post, The Star, and United Daily News.

According to an audience segmentation study identified that across five publishers, the loyalty share (engaged and brand lover users) represents under 5% of the publishers’ total monthly audience but contributes 45-65% of all advertising revenue. By this measure one brand lover is worth at least 50 casual users.

Kenny Griffiths, managing director, Asia Pacific, MightyHive, said: “Publishers are undergoing hard times with a changing privacy and technological landscape. At this moment, the industry is asking what would be a sustainable model to run, build, adapt and evolve. This playbook contains some of the answers. The takeaways point publishers to ways they can drive revenue using a data-driven approach."

"The crucial parts of this project were executed during COVID-19 pandemic, and we’re proud to have provided support and crucial insights to publishers during these hard times,” said Jakub Otrzasek, head of data and analytics, Asia Pacific, MightyHive added.

Last week, Google said it is investing US$1 billion in partnerships with news publishers to support the industry and the future of news. This came shortly after it was reported that Google is "within reach of" coming to a compromise on a law that would compel it to pay for Australian news. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said in a blog post that the financial commitment, which is its biggest to date, will pay publishers to create and curate high-quality content for a different kind of online news experience. According to Pichai, Google News Showcase is a new product that will benefit both publishers and readers. It features the editorial curation of popular newsrooms to give readers more insight on important stories, and at the same time helps publishers develop deeper relationships with their audiences.

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(Photo courtesy: 123RF)

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