Facebook hates news, attacks of the clones, and suspicious cake making - all in this week's Content Aware media highlights.
Hey journalists! Facebook says you're not creators
In an about-turn worthy of the most predictable of scripted dramas, Facebook has decided news isn't worth paying for anymore as it continues to have rings run round it by TikTok. Instead of payments to publishers it will focus on the creator economy, but that doesn't mean any of you lot helping create or investigate the news agenda - they mean cats with socks on their tails with robovoices singing 'Oh no, oh no oh no no no!", that sort of thing.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-shifts-resources-from-news-tab-and-bulletin-to-focus-on-creator-economy-11658250433
Blocking readers from sites: do they ever come back? Don't assume so
Seeing less of those GDPR-era "Sorry EU readers we can't show you this page" messages on US sites? It's probably because you don't bother visiting the ones that chose that approach any more. This paper studies the effect of site rationing and blocking and surmises that barring users from sites for legal reasons just makes them think you hate them. They often won't come back.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17480485221111312
Is this Glide Content Aware, or a sneaky clone?
An organisation protecting publisher rights saw clone sites and content theft more than double in 2021. Did your content end up as a page view for someone else?
https://pressgazette.co.uk/ripped-articles-cloned-news-websites/
Do readers follow the writer or the brand? Depends where they live
An interesting look at how readers around the world engage with their trusted media and who some nations follow the writer not the outlet.
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/our-podcast-digital-news-report-2022-episode-7-which-journalists-do-people-pay-most-attention
Corbidge comments on... Google on the defensive
How one man's kitchen curiosity could give a glimpse into the future of the internet.
https://www.gpp.io/news/is-a-defensive-google-worse-for-the-publishing-industry-aPr147x4I3x6
Google targets bad reviews in latest update
In a world plagued by 5-star myths and highly-recommended fictions, Google has turned its algorithm crews towards dishonest and low-quality reviews.
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-july-2022-product-review-algorithm-update-rolling-out-now/459209/
Privacy mode for your car?
Remember the hubbub over BMW's heated seat subscription? Soon it will seem a charming episode in one of the next battlegrounds of privacy: your car.
https://themarkup.org/the-breakdown/2022/07/27/who-is-collecting-data-from-your-car
Guide: Still using old Apple 'how to' guides for your in-app subscriptions? You might be chucking money awayhttps://www.niemanlab.org/2022/07/still-giving-apple-30-of-your-news-subscription-revenue-you-no-longer-have-to-and-heres-how-to-stop/
https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/07/still-giving-apple-30-of-your-news-subscription-revenue-you-no-longer-have-to-and-heres-how-to-stop/
Just a reminder - because many never heard it - that magazines and news count under Apple's relaxed rules for allowing subscription journeys that do not require handing it a 30% slice.
https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/07/still-giving-apple-30-of-your-news-subscription-revenue-you-no-longer-have-to-and-heres-how-to-stop/
Publishers and copyright holders prod UK Government over A.I. freebies
Should a computer get to read and analyse data you can't? Should an A.I. that could revolutionise our lives be prevented from looking at the data it needs to do so?
http://www.newsmediauk.org/Latest/lord-callanan-government-welcomes-further-evidence-on-copyright-framework
UK journalists and publishers: enter for awards
British Journalism Awards 2022: enter here. Entries close at the end of September. That's it.
https://pressgazette.awardsplatform.com/
Thanks to all for the tips and recommendations!
