Martha Stewart Living’s Success, End of 53-Year-Old Surfing Magazine, Facebook Trending Changes, Google’s Ad Fraud Report, TFP’s Infographic Pick of the Week
Welcome to Technology for Publishing’s roundup of news, stories of interest, and tips for media industry pros! This week, we’re sharing posts about how Martha Stewart keeps her brand “constantly new,” the passing of another older title, Facebook’s Trending topics update, 200 sites banned from Google’s ad network, and more.
A pioneer in the lifestyle magazine business, Martha Stewart knows what it takes to be successful. For 26 years, Martha Stewart Living has stayed connected with its readership by being “constantly new” and sticking to its “core values,” Stewart and her team say in an Adweek article that looks at how the magazine has managed to thrive in a now overcrowded market. Staying on top of technology is also key: The brand’s digital properties are used to “bring the print magazine to life,” the article says, noting that Stewart has also grown a big social media following, with original content and videos, and launched a popular cable show with Snoop Dogg. “We know what’s best for our brand, and that’s how we’ll win,” says Marci Greenfield, content marketing director at Martha Stewart Digital.- Meanwhile, another older title, 53-year-old Surfing Magazine, is shutting down, with some of its assets being folded into TEN: The Enthusiast Network’s Surfer title, according to a Media Life report. The Surfing brand, including the print magazine and its website and social media pages, will be discontinued as TEN consolidates titles to gain more efficiencies. Norb Garrett, executive vice president at TEN, said in the post that its audience remains strong, however, with Surfer magazine reaching “about 10 times more audience than in the early 2000s, thanks to social media and video production and events.â€
- More on the fake news front: Facebook says it has updated its Trending section to exclude topics based on a single news report. As a Recode post explains, Trending will now include only stories that have been reported by multiple sources “to avoid one-off fake news stories that get lots of people talking but haven’t been vetted by other media organizations.” Also, Trending topics will no longer be personalized for individual users, meaning we’ll all see the same stories regardless of our particular interests—like politics or sports. This latest update is part of a larger plan to address charges that it hasn’t done enough to prevent the spread of misinformation.
- Over at Google, some 200 websites have been purged from the search company’s ad platform in its ongoing efforts to rid the Internet of fake news—or what Google now likes to call “misrepresentative content.” In its yearly fraudulent advertising report, the company detailed how recent changes to the rules governing its Google AdSense network—made in response to post-election reports pointing to its role in spreading fake news—resulted in the sites being barred from the network permanently, though some were blocked for engaging in prohibited activities like pornography, gambling, and piracy. Mashable notes watchdog group Media Matters just weeks ago accused the search company of allowing 20 publishers known to “routinely” post false news articles to continue using its network. Google also blocked 1.7 billion fraudulent ads last year, the report says, double the number compared with the previous year.
On the Technology for Publishing Blog
- Research shows millennials and baby boomers share and consume user-generated content differently. But, as this week’s infographic pick shows, people across all generations trust content created by other consumers more than any other types of content. See our post for details.
- And don’t miss TFP’s January Women in Media roundup, highlighting NPR radio veteran Diane Rehm, women documentary filmmakers, a mentorship program focused on diversity, Marie Claire EIC Anne Fulenwider, Campbell Brown’s Facebook gig, and more.
- Also check out Monica Murphy’s InDesign CC 2017 Tip on time-saving OpenType enhancements.
Image:Â Adweek
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Posted by: Monica Sambataro
