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DMG Media invests in AI start-up | Publishers flock to Bluesky
Plus we hear from NZ publisher Stuff on how it found growth by splitting in two, Bristol-based SWNS expands in the US and Avid Collective launches in the UK
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Welcome to your daily newsletter from Press Gazette on Wednesday 20 November 2024, brought to you today in association with Avid Collective’s end-to-end suite of publisher tools ‘Avid PubSuite’ - unlocking the true potential of branded content.
Hear more from Co-Founder Tom Gunter in this exclusive interview with Press Gazette on how and why Avid PubSuite is making branded content more efficient, accessible and more competitive to drive growth and future-proof publisher revenue.
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There are big changes afoot in the world of generative AI and the shifting allegiances and battles between publishers and platforms.
DMG Media has invested in Prorata, a new name in the space which promises to pay publishers each time their work is used to answer user queries.
Guardian Media Group and Sky News have also announced that they are working with the start-up, which is yet to launch any public-facing products.
It's an encouraging sign and a far cry from the approach of other more-established players who make liberal use of publisher content to drive search, gen AI And advertising products without consent.
We've spoken to the head of content development at New Zealand publisher Stuff about how a strategy which split the company in two has delivered "extraordinary growth".
Stuff publishes New Zealand's most popular online newsbrand (which carries the same name) and also runs a group of regional news titles and a Sunday newspaper.
The flagship national online brand remains free and ad-funded with a remit to reach the widest possible audience. Access to the other brands is offered via a bundled subscription which seems to offer a better route to supporting in-depth reporting.
And we report on the soaring popularity among publishers and journalists of social media platform Bluesky, which offers a sunnier, less toxic alternative to Twitter.
Users of Bluesky would be hard-pressed to tell the difference with Twitter functionality-wise. But it is more like the Twitter of yore, without all the crappy advertising, bots and hateful anonymous commenters.
Twitter is still the biggest social media outlet for Press Gazette, but we're posting on Bluesky as well and finding encouraging levels of interaction (you can find us here).
If you're thinking about giving Bluesky a try I'd say come on in, the water's lovely (for now at least)!
Today we also have two important updates from Press Gazette's commercial sponsors.
SWNS, the news agency which started in Bristol and has taken over the UK, is expanding. Its 50-strong team already fills much of the space in our national newspapers and provides a constant stream of verified, exclusive popular content for online. Now it is launching in the US with a stateside content team. We have the full details here.
And Avid Collective, an Australia-based platform supporting branded content, is launching in the UK. We spoke to one of Avid's founders to find out why UK publishers are missing a trick when it comes to branded content and how they can use it to grow their advertising revenue.
From our sponsor:
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Unlock the full potential of branded content with Avid PubSuite—a purpose-built ecosystem empowering publishers to reclaim ad revenue and drive growth.
Branded content offers advertisers unique value, creating a future-proof revenue stream that’s exclusive to publishers. Yet, challenges like inefficiency and limited accessibility are holding the channel back.
Avid PubSuite streamlines workflows, reducing publisher management time by over 60% and significantly improves the client experience, making branded content a viable, scalable channel for both publishers and advertisers
On Press Gazette
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Wave of news publishers arrive on Bluesky as sign-ups surge
Publications including The Economist, The Week, the i, Kent Online and ITV News have joined Bluesky in the past week..
DMG Media invests in news publisher-compensating generative AI start-up Prorata
Guardian Media Group and Sky News all also announced on Wednesday that they have made their content available to the start-up.
How top New Zealand news publisher unlocked growth by splitting in two
Read our interview with Stuff head of content development Elise Johnson.
Sponsored: How publishers can use branded content to grow advertising revenue
“I think audiences have a clear understanding that their publishers have to make money, but they will turn off if the endorsement alignment is very poor,” said Avid Collective co-founder Tom Gunter.