It has been easy enough to be skeptical about Twitter’s influence and staying power–I do it all the time. But there’s no denying that Twitter has become a powerful driver of Web traffic.
Just ask the New York Times, which says Twitter is about to become one of the top 10 referral sources to the paper’s site.
Impressive. But what exactly does this mean?
The paper’s Internet operations used to be a bright spot. But last quarter Web advertising dropped more than 15 percent. What gives?
Remember last week when Google was forced to explain why it wasn’t single-handedly destroying American newspapers? Turns out the company is in talks with some of the country’s biggest newspapers to…well, save them. But that isn’t the right phrase either. In fact, it’s not clear how to describe the talks. But we do know that Google is chatting with both the Washington Post and the New York Times, because that’s what employees of the Washington Post and the New York Times are reporting today.
Anyone who makes money–or who is trying to make money–publishing on the Web is obsessed with getting more out of Google and its firehose of traffic. Here’s a novel approach from a coterie of big media brands, including the New York Times and Disney’s ESPN: Complain loudly that the search engine isn’t treating you fairly.
The paper of record provided a helpful peek into its business–and the ad business in general–during its earnings call yesterday. It’s not all bad news, and it’s all pretty interesting. Here’s the CliffsNotes version.
Earlier this month, executives at the paper warned investors that they had a miserable November. They weren’t kidding. Ad revenue was down almost 21 percent, and even Web ads shrank.
The Times says its core Web ad business–selling display ads on its pages–fell off in November, has gotten worse this month and could really be in trouble next year. But About.com is holding up comparatively well.
Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider.
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
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