Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Category Archives: Marketing

Publishers Battle for the C-Suite

The New York Times [unpaywalled] – “Numerous media outlets, looking for new lucrative lines of business, are pursuing newsletters and events aimed specifically at top executives. When the digital news start-up Semafor began in 2022, its founders talked about reaching a vast global audience of 200 million college-educated, English-speaking people. But their latest push is aimed at just a tiny — albeit moneyed — sliver of that: top executives. The company said Thursday that it would start an invitation-only newsletter for chief executives, The CEO Signal, in January. It will be free but available only to the leaders of companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue. Semafor’s newest project is the latest in a series of moves among media outlets like The Wall Street Journal, Axios and Fortune, which are battling for attention inside the C-suite. Despite a crowded marketplace, each sees an opportunity for its newsletters and events to cater to the highest echelon of corporate leaders and to tap into a lucrative world of sponsorships and subscriptions. New sources of revenue have become increasingly important for many publications in the face of a tough digital advertising market and faltering social media traffic. “It truly is an example of the reversal of this 20-year trend in media of prioritizing scale,” said Justin Smith, the chief executive and a co-founder of Semafor. He added, “We’re really not talking about small business or midsize business but the C.E.O.s of the biggest companies in the world, which is a micromarket.” Mr. Smith said he had realized shortly after Semafor began that its journalists and articles were “tilting our whole model, at least in the initial phase of Semafor’s existence, toward a very, very clear audience segment, which I would call the global leadership class.”

Social media needs (dumpster) fire exits

Pluralistic: “Of course you should do everything you can to prevent fires – and also, you should build fire exits, because no matter how hard to you try, stuff burns. That includes social media sites. Social media has its own special form of lock-in: we use social media sites to connect with friends, family members,… Continue Reading

Teens, Social Media and Technology 2024

Pew: Most teens use social media and have a smartphone, and nearly half say they’re online almost constantly. “Nine-in-ten teens report using YouTube, slightly down from 95% in 2022. Roughly six-in-ten teens say they use TikTok and Instagram, and 55% say the same for Snapchat. YouTube tops the list of the online platforms we asked… Continue Reading

How AARP Shills for UnitedHealthcare

American Propspect Robert Kuttner: ” Why does the supposed advocate for the elderly steer them to the industry’s worst insurer? We still don’t know quite why the assassin of Brian Thompson targeted the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. But it’s hardly a secret that UnitedHealthcare has the worst record among all large insurers in denying necessary medical… Continue Reading

Billion-Dollar Bank Accused of Secretly Sending Customers’ Personal and Financial Information to Facebook, Google and Microsoft

The Daily Hodl: “The eighth-largest bank in the US by total assets is accused of secretly collecting personal and financial information from its customers and sharing the data with tech giants. A new class-action lawsuit alleges Capital One engaged in an “outrageous, illegal, and widespread practice of disclosing – without consent – the Nonpublic Personal… Continue Reading

YouTubers Are Almost Too Easy to Dupe

The Atlantic [unpaywalled]”Perhaps the most accurate cliché is that if a deal appears too good to be true, then it probably is. To wit: If a “private investor” of unknown origin approaches you through an intermediary, offering you $400,000 a month to make “four weekly videos” for a politically partisan website and YouTube page, you… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 7, 2024

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 7, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly… Continue Reading

How publishers are experimenting with Reddit even without a formal publisher program

DIGIDAY: “While it hasn’t formally launched a publisher program, over the last 18 months Reddit has been steadily rolling out products and resources aimed at courting media companies to increase their presence on the platform. And according to audience development leads from publishers including Newsweek, The Hill and Wirecutter, those efforts have helped pivot focus… Continue Reading

Generative AI is sliding into the ‘trough of disillusionment’

ComputerWorld: “Market research firm Gartner [requires fee but this article sums up the report well] yesterday published its 2024 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, and the study revealed that generative AI (genAI) has passed the “peak of inflated expectations” and is now sliding down into the “trough of disillusionment.”Along with genAI, AI-augmented software engineering is… Continue Reading