TheStandard.com: A Mirror of the Internet Economy
By Jeff Mellen
Start with a publication that covers the latest news from the digital
front. Add professional-grade market analysis and research. Throw
in a variety of reference materials, such as company profiles and
executive biographies. Finally, make lots of room for advertising
opportunities. Voila-- you have TheStandard.com, the digital face
of IDG's The Industry Standard.
Launched less than three years ago, the Standard's motto is "Intelligence
for the Internet Economy," and in this sense, the publication
lives up to its billing. The website is thoughtfully divided into
several major areas: current news & opinions, specific subject
repositories, research & analysis, and the contents of the Industry
Standard magazine. Within these areas, TheStandard.com clearly focuses
on analysis, and not just a rehash of the day's technology news that
one would be able to find on CNET's News.com or through the technology
news alliance between IDG and CNN.com. For example, on the day of
this critique, most major news outlets are covering the Microsoft
breakup appeal. The Standard's angle, however, is how the key judge
in the case, Thomas Penfield Jackson, may have compromised his own
case by talking to select reporters while the trial was in progress.
Other top stories include a complete analysis of the recent AOL-Time
Warner merger, a revelation that media giant Bertelsmann has developed
a file-swapping service of its own in case Napster closes, and how
the U.S. Postal Service is looking to e-commerce to ease its financial
troubles.
What also separates TheStandard.com from other digital news outlets
is its databank on individual companies and personalities. The set
of biographies, which includes over 1,000 profiles of industry movers
& shakers, is one of the most interesting parts of the site. The
dossiers include standard education and job history, along with a
section called "Cocktail Q & A," in which the Standard
asks questions such as "What's one prediction you made that never
came true?" The biographies are linked to a mini-suite of market
downturn tools, such as the "Ex-Exec Tracker," "Layoff
Tracker," and "Flops Tracker." However, the company
directory is not quite as revealing as the biographical index. Someone
looking to do true company research would be better off with a financial
institution or brokerage.
As a hybrid publication, TheStandard.com also offers market research
tools, such as targeted metrics, "sponsored whitepapers"
on technologies and trends, a job postings board, and an "intelligence
store," where you can buy publications from knowledge houses
such as Forrester Research, the Yankee Group, and IDG's consulting
arm, IDC. Unlike the news and databank, however, these tools are strictly
commercial in nature. Companies such as EDS and Sun provide TheStandard.com
with the "sponsored whitepapers," to present a problem and
its own products as a solution. Honest, in-depth, professional market
analyses and research come at a hefty price-- try thousands of dollars.
Firms looking to take advantage of the Job Shop will also have to
sign some checks to the Standard.
And why not try to make money? After all, the publication is in many
ways like the industry it covers. The group created to publish the
Industry Standard and TheStandard.com, San Francisco-headquartered
Standard Media Group, Inc., secured initial capital investment from
IDG, Forrester Research, and FlatIron Venture Partners. Like so many
other startups, it is expanding very quickly, with a pan-European
printed edition, and web sites geared at Brazilian, Korean, Swedish,
and Australian markets. Ironically, it has also had to layoff a significant
portion of its staff in recent weeks, citing "market conditions."
As such, it is not surprising that TheStandard.com is trying to push
its wares and generate advertising opportunities wherever possible.
While this compromises a bit of the "intelligence" that
the Standard purports, its news coverage remains predominantly fair
and insightful. What's more is that the publication's own success
is dependent on that of the Internet economy, and TheStandard.com
has no problem covering the market downturn or even its own struggles.
As long its coverage is that unbiased, TheStandard.com will remain
a worthwhile source for news and analysis on e-commerce.