Facebook will focus on friends over publishers in the News Feed

Facebook just announced that it will make sweeping changes to the News Feed, the primary place where users find content on the social network. Over the next few months, users will see “more from your friends, family and groups” and ” less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media,” so says CEO Mark […]

A fourth class-action lawsuit against Google claims the company rips off publishers and their advertisers (GOOG)

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images Google is now fighting four class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of website publishers and advertisers who use its AdX services. Damages could run into tens or hundreds of millions of pounds, if the suits succeed. One suit has already been granted class-action status by a US federal judge. The suits […]

Google aims to share revenue with news publishers

Google isn’t kidding around when it says it wants to make amends with subscription-based news outlets. The search giant’s head of news, Richard Gingras, told the Financial Times that the plan is to share revenues with publishers who take advantage of its new subscription tools. Similar to its ad system, it would use its machine […]

Single-player is the vestigial limb of publishers that had to adapt or die

ANALYSIS: At some point last century, someone at the U.S. Department of Defense plugged a network cable into a computer. Cut to a few decades later, and Electronic Arts says it is canning a game because it doesn’t function as an online service. The publisher announced yesterday that it is closing Dead Space developer Visceral and […]

Free books no more: Greek students storm education ministry after publishers suspend scheme (VIDEO)

Published time: 14 Oct, 2017 11:21 Edited time: 14 Oct, 2017 11:34 Students in Athens clashed with police on Friday while attempting to storm the Greek Ministry of Education building, a Ruptly video shows. Publishers suspended the free distribution of books citing payment delays from the ministry. The video shows students throwing stones and chairs […]

Facebook tests a feature that provides info on article publishers

Facebook is still working out how to reduce the reach of fake news and misinformation on its site and today, it starts testing a new feature that sounds like it might be pretty useful. When an article link is shared in someone’s News Feed, there will now be a small “i” button that will bring […]

Google ditches ‘first click free’ policy that required paywalled publishers to offer free content

Google is ditching its controversial “first click free” (FCF) policy that required subscription-based online publishers to give readers free access to some articles found through Google News and web searches. In its place, Google has introduced a set of “flexible sampling” guidelines that it recommends online publishers use, however, they are purely advisory and the internet giant […]

Why one of Facebook’s most successful video publishers had to scramble to re-think its whole strategy to cash in on ads

Tastemade Publishers like Tastemade built big Facebook audiences by churning out lots of short content. But now many need to shift gears. That’s because Facebook has begun inserting ads into video clips, but only if they run 90 seconds or more. For Tastemade, that’s meant shooting videos using more TV-like conventions, like cliffhangers before ad breaks. […]

Facebook is going to let publishers start charging readers to view stories (FB)

Facebook Facebook is getting ready to let media outlets charge readers for access to their stories. The social network has started briefing publishers on the forthcoming subscription service and hopes to start testing it by October, according to a person familiar with the matter. While details are still be ironed out, Facebook is currently telling […]