In addition to providing news content, media Web sites provide value to viewers by making additional, relevant information readily available, by providing a community of users to whom the viewer can relate in an instant, and by allowing users to customize their interfaces to achieve the maximum utility from a given site. One of the most valuable service that a Web site can provide to its users is the ability to filter the news they see, so that readers only see articles, sports scores, ski conditions or stock/fund quotes of their choice. By filtering the news and providing the content the reader deems valuable, online news sources with filtering allow the reader to gain the maximum benefit from the content. Sites related to print media also may provide the ability to manage a subscription account - to stop and restart for vacation or to change addresses for a subscription.
Additional Information on Subject
One of the most user-friendly features of news on the Internet is that it allows users to gain the most from a given story when providers provide links to related material. A site utilizing this feature may provide links which range from recent background and informational stories on that site and other related sites or to sites about the area(s) in question to sites dealing with the larger issues at hand. Links may also be used in the form of audio and video clips to maximize the impact of a particular story. It is this area which most blurs the distinction between forms of media - Web, print, and broadcast.
Examples of informational links include:
When a person reads a newspaper or magazine, he feels a part of the readership community - and can see fellow readers on the subway or in line at the bank. When viewing an online media source, there is no outward way for a reader to determine who also is using the site. By providing additional opportunities for readers to interact with each other and with targeted celebrities, content providers are creating the "community" of readers formerly found in coffee shops doing the crossword puzzle on Sunday mornings. Providers may not be aiming to replace these communities but rather to provide a "community" for their readers, and to encourage users to spend more time on their sites, particularly if their revenue model is based on advertising.
These interactive opportunities fall into two main categories - opinion dissemination and gaming. Within opinion dissemination media providers offer readers the opportunity to voice their opinions on topics of relevance to that site as well as for the providers to take the "pulse" of their readership. When sites provide a "forum" with a relevant celebrity (i.e., a mayor who is in the news, an author with a current bestseller, or a movie star in a just-released film) they increase viewership as well as give the site a more "personalized" feel. The ability to have a "conversation" with a person of interest or some fame serves as a draw into a site as well as lends a sense of identity and community to a site, if only for the duration of the forum.
When sites move beyond the news to provide entertainment, they offer viewers the opportunity to amuse themselves and to build another type of community within the site. Once a person is involved in a fantasy sports league, there is a reason to visit the site repeatedly while the "league" is in session. This repeat viewership also helps enhance advertising revenues for the site, if that is the fee model chosen. If the fee model is payment to join such a "league" then, after paying the fee, players may feel obligated to "get value" for their money and still continually visit the site. By providing contests to viewers, providers can obtain additional information (on a contest entry form), encourage repeat visits (one entry per visit), or solicit input from viewers (ask for a favorite recipe in order to qualify for a visit to Martha Stewart's kitchen etc.). A well-designed contest will keep readers interested in re-visiting a site and thus enhance the number of overall viewings.
Examples of interactive opinion and gaming services include:
Many providers of Internet news have realized that customers are keenly interested in tracking the performance of their stocks and other financial instruments. In addition to providing the previous day's closing prices and, perhaps, a ticker with a 15-minute delay, many news sites have diversified to provide financial information and the ability to track a specific portfolio. By providing this type of service, news sites are crossing the line dividing them from financial sites, and can encourage repeat visits as well as discourage visits to the competition.
The Wall Street Journal is widely known as the financial newspaper and, as such, provides readers the ability to track a stock portfolio's performance. Neil Budde, editor of the online version of the WSJ, said that a look at site usage revealed certain users use this feature as a primary means of following the market. He said they have seen individual users make such a large volume of requests to the server that they were considering the addition of more sophisticated portfolio management tools.10
Portfolio management tools available online in conjunction with media sites include:
A burgeoning use for the Internet is Electronic Commerce. Yankee Group, based in Boston, projects that consumers will spend upward of $4.9 billion on the Web in 1998, and nearly $10 billion by the year 2000, according to analyst Melissa Bain. Yankee Group also expects 16 million households to spend an average of $550 annually online by the year 2000. Since users of online news already have discovered that the Internet offers an alternative means for information dissemination and have embraced online technology, they tend to exhibit a high propensity to purchase something over the Web. Providers of online news are making it easier for their constituents to participate in electronic commerce either by providing links to relevant sites or by making sales information (classifieds) available and searchable online. In this era of high mobility, where individuals move across the country for job- and personal-related purposes, providing searchable listings for jobs and housing is a major service to the online news community.
Commerce opportunities include:
Thus, Internet news and other media providers have realized their constituencies are looking for something more than the news - that they are looking for additional information, links, personalization, or services. And they are granting their viewers' wishes. The main question is when the "value-added services" begin to generate value. As more and more sites provide services, some offerings will become commodities (i.e., everyone will have links to relevant sites and articles and the ability to somehow customize the site) while others will serve as true differentiators. The question is on which services will the differentiation point apply.
The other interesting trend is that some sites are taking services which users take for granted (i.e. searchable archives) and charging a premium for usage or a fee-per-use. By taking these services out of the common domain, providers can create an additional revenue source. However, in order to generate a significant amount of revenue, the service itself must be well-executed and must provide value. A company or user with free access to Lexis-Nexis may not be willing to pay to search archives of The New York Times or another publication within the Lexis-Nexis domain. But that same user might be willing to pay to search the archives of the London Financial Times or the International Herald Tribune.
As the Web evolves, more services will be offered and others will fall
by the wayside. In any case, one may posit that the divisions between news
media sites and other information content sites will blur as providers
attempt to give their users an integrated "suite" of offerings so as to
provide them the maximum value per visit.
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10 Lunch conversation
with Neil Budde, The Sail Loft, 2/19/98. It is useful to note that
The Wall Street Journal charges a fee for usage.