Are newspapers in the US doomed?
The past decade has been tough for newspapers, but many newspaper execs are arguably more upbeat about the future than one might expect.
There may be a need for that optimism, but it might also be completely unfounded if new figures about newspaper revenue in 2011 are any indication.
The Wall Street Journal: WikiLeaks 2.0?
Journalism or not? Ethical or unethical? WikiLeaks, the infamous internet-based organization that releases sensitive and often-classified material that is leaked to it, is perhaps one of the most controversial organizations in the world today.
But despite the controversy surrounding WikiLeaks, it appears that at least one major newspaper is envious enough of what it's doing to start its own online service designed to allow 'whistleblowers' to share their wares.
Behavioral targeters need to find a balance between helpful and creepy
Zappos knows what you did last summer. Or maybe what you did last time you were on the Zappos website. The shoe seller is just one of many companies that tracks customer activity online to serve more relevant advertising.
Such tools have has the ability to make product searches much easier online. But they also creep some people out. And behavioral targeters need to figure out the difference before regulators really start paying attention.
Foursquare's challenge: keeping up
Foursquare is on a roll. It's got heathly user adoption and very desirable demos, a growing roster of major brands who want to team up for promotions, and plenty of love from the media (not to mention endless speculation about potential suitors?
Now, the white-hot location-based social service is facing problems very much in keeping with the ones Twitter faced at this stage in its development: scale. A word that rhymes with both "fail" and "whale", perhaps the most infamous error page in recent internet memory, and an emblem of how difficult it can be for small start-ups to keep up with rapid growth.
The New York Times pay wall may look a lot like The Wall Street Journal's
The New York Times announced plans to instate a pay wall almost a full year before it will go live, and so far it's been anyone's guess as to what their new digital business model will look like. But according to comments from Bill Keller this week, it may look like something pretty familliar: The Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal finds a way to Foursquare with purpose
The Wall Street Journal may have a long way to go before its new New York section becomes a must-read, but it's making some headway with social media.
When the newspaper launched its new section last month, it also announced a partnership with Foursquare. And while one of my colleagues might disagree with me on this one, I think it was a smart move. And today proved why.
Is a Honolulu Civil Beat subscription worth more than a WSJ.com subscription?
Pierre Omidyar launched eBay before many of us were online, and before online shopping was a multi-billion dollar a year market. But blazing the trail of ecommerce may prove to be a much easier task for Omidyar than building paid online news properties.
Yesterday, the Omidyar launched the Honolulu Civil Beat, an online news publication designed to provide content and facilitate conversation around "the important issues facing Hawaii."
Geomarketing: Ten Foursquare marketing campaigns
Geolocation-based social network Foursquare just might be the internet's 'next big thing'. While it isn't anywhere close to the size of Twitter or Facebook, the young company last month passed the million user mark.
That's a memorable milestone for any consumer internet startup, but the company's progress is perhaps better measured by the number of marketing deals it has inked with bigger companies. Here are 10 of those deals.
Platform before strategy: the Wall Street Journal teams up with Foursquare
Is Foursquare the next consumer internet startup that's on the verge of making a big mainstream splash? A growing number of print publishers seem to hope it is and are in turn aligning themselves with the young company.
Recently, I detailed the Financial Times' initiative with Foursquare, which will give certain Foursquare users the ability to access FT.com without a subscription at no cost for a limited time.
Why the New York Times can't go the last mile
I had to breathe deeply and compose myself for several minutes before I picked up the receiver and made The Call, but finally summoned the fortitude. Today, after four decades of near-uninterrupted service, I cancelled delivery of The New York Times. The Internet's partially to blame, but digital is only part of the reason I fired the Grey Lady.
It didn't take much consideration to drop my landline. Cable I thought about a tad longer before cutting the cord (all those years in the TV business doubtless had something to do with hanging on). Fewer bills, reduced customer service hassles, and besides, neither my telco nor MSO delivered anything I wanted but couldn't access digitally anyway.
