The MoPR Blog

It’s not breaking news that print media is suffering. With the lousy economy, skyrocketing operating costs and readers defecting and getting their information online, publishers are aggressively looking for ways to leverage the web to make a profit or to merely stay alive.

One recent study, “Vertical Search Report 2008,” from E-consultancy conducted in association with Convera suggests though, that publishers can retain existing readers and even grab new ones by offering a very specific search functionally within their market or niche. By delivering a specific search niche publishers can position themselves as the go-to expert source on the topic in their industry.

Publishers have an opportunity to gain this “search market share” by establishing themselves as the definitive search engine within their particular niche or sector.

A great example of a publisher that has done this with success is TechTarget. Though not originally started by TechTarget [they bought the site back in 2002] the publisher’s Whatis.com website has positioned TechTarget as the go-to site for IT tech term definitions. It certainly has helped strengthen TechTarget’s brand as well.

The challenge of course is that publishers will be up against hugely popular generic search engines such as Google. The way to overcome this competition is to produce a search tool which is perceived to be a better way to find information on a very specific topic – like IT tech term definitions - than generic search engines can offer.

The report backs up its claims with a statistic of 93% of media and internet B2B professionals saying, “they would be “very likely or quite likely to use a search engine that focused on serving their specific business or work needs.”

Granted, these are early adopters and people who feel comfortable using technology.

Even so, more than half of the respondents claimed that faster access to desired information was a major benefit of vertical search, with 50% saying the focus on their business interests and workflow would be a major advantage.

According to the study, the three biggest advantages of having a vertical search feature on an existing website is the ability to “improve brand by becoming an authority website,” the potential to “keep users on-site” and the “potential to monetize through advertising.”

Vertical search also helps advertisers connect to their customers and “increase the publisher’s revenue stream.”

That’s key.

It’s one thing to have a killer search engine, strengthen the brand and be positioned as the prime landing spot for your industry, but if this search engine drives customers to a site, keeps them there and lets publishers increase ad revenue, then it’s a win/win.

Feed the reader
Another interesting point from this study was the increasing use of RSS feeds and advice on how publishers should be utilizing them.

The research notes the impact that the underutilized RSS technology could have on the print world and how using RSS feeds to push and offer content to readers can increase readership.

By employing RSS, print publishers can extend the life of their content, gain readers and gain more ad dollars. For the reader, RSS feeds offer the convenience of reading their favorite columnist, breaking news, industry news or sports scores, anytime, anywhere.

According to the report, many professionals are already receiving content electronically - a whopping 80% of internet professionals surveyed as part of the research were already using industry or sector-specific RSS feeds.

Trends in digital marketing are leading towards a fragmentation of the online landscape and “atomization” of content, or the breaking down of content into bite size bits of information – very drilled-down and hyper-focused to a specific audience.

Content owners have a great opportunity to increase visibility for their content through the effective use of feeds, widgets and toolbars, according to the report:

“The level of uptake for feeds and customized homepages is very high among this early-adopter audience, but this kind of online behavior will soon become more widespread among knowledge workers across a wider range of industries,” said Linus Gregoriadis, head of research at E-consultancy.

As communication professionals working with numerous early adopters and their ahead-of-the-curve customers, we sometimes tend to forget that not everyone understands the technology behind RSS or are even using it without knowing how it works to read their daily content.

Like E-consultancy, we also believe that usage of RSS technology, both on the desktop and on smartphones, will increase with the “less-techie” audience over the next 12 months.

We understand that the average newspaper reader wants to open their front door, reach down and grab the Sunday paper. They don’t care how the paper was printed, how it was distributed to the delivery center, and then sent to the paper carrier’s home where it was folded, bagged and thrown onto their front porch. They just want to read their newspaper.

The same goes for online and mobile content – people with smartphones don’t care about RSS technology, XML, or feeds. [Next time you’re at a BBQ or party, ask your friends if they know what RSS is.]

Like the newspaper reader, smartphone users just want their content delivered to their device so they can read it.

Struggling print media need all the help they can get. Using new media and technology such as focused, niche search engines and setting up easy to subscribe to RSS feeds is a great start for publishers to help add value to their content, keep readers – even gain readers – and more importantly nab ad revenue. As someone who comes from the print world, still relies on a healthy print industry and continually follows it, I’ll definitely be watching this trend. - John “JC” Chilson

U.S. President George Bush announced on Wednesday that the US will now allow Americans to send cell phones to relatives in Cuba, following the country’s new President Raul Castro’s recent consent for Cubans to own mobile phones. Up until March 28, 2008, cell phones in Cuba were reserved for only executives working for foreign companies or high communist party officials.

But why should Americans send over cell phones when they are now available for purchase in Cuba? Because the majority of Cubans cannot afford the $120+ cell phones available to them. With a $120 price tag, these cell phones run about six times an average Cuban worker’s monthly salary, thus making them available to only the elite population of the country.

Even though the US trade embargo remains in place, Bush said that Americans will now be able to include mobile phones in gift parcels for Cuba.

National Security Council official Dan Fisk said that “Americans will be allowed to send a phone and support an account by paying the bill in the United States” adding that the policy would be ready in as little as two weeks.

Bush commented that it’s “the height of hypocrisy to claim credit to allow Cubans to purchase appliances (mobile phones) that virtually none of them can afford.”

With all of the freedoms we have as Americans, it is difficult to imagine being told by our leaders that we can or cannot use something as basic and fundamental to the way we live our lives as a cell phone.

While the rest of the world is exploding with the latest cell phone technology, there are still parts of the world that aren’t even permitted this basic freedom. Take North Korea, a country far behind its technologically advanced neighbor, where it has been reported that they actually execute people caught with mobile phones. The image on the left shows how technologically backwards it is - the entire country goes dark after nightfall.

Back in February, the ousted Taliban government in Afghanistan threatened Afghan mobile operators demanding that they shut down their networks at night or face attack. Their reasoning was that occupying forces stationed in Afghanistan use mobile phones at night for espionage. The report that leaked this information to the press was made from a meeting with a Taliban spokesperson, on you guessed it – a mobile phone.

So, back to Cuba. Bush hopes the new plan will urge continued reforms within the Cuban government, including free speech. Hey- If they’ve got the phones, let them say what they want, right? But we all know it isn’t that easy.

What other reforms could come out of such a landmark event? Is this another way of getting outside information into Communist Cuba? Sure feels like it.

With cell phones comes Internet access. With Internet access comes portals to worlds long forbidden to the Cuban people. And with new portals opening up comes a more free society, etc. In fact, Cuban telecom company Etecsa expects to sell 1.4 million new mobile phone contracts over the next five years. That’s a lot of users opening a lot of doors.

The truth is the new government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for a continued rigid political control. The fear of losing control of such a, well… controlled country is evident in their apprehensive restructuring.

What is readily apparent is the potential role that increased penetration of mobile phone technology could have in Cuba. We’ll have to wait and see what the immediate impact will be, but there is no question that this has the potential to change the dynamic of information flow both out of and into Cuba.

As of today, there has been no response from Cuba’s new president on whether or not he is on board for the new plan. Stay tuned. We’ll be sure to keep you posted. - Tamara Parker

Weekend Reading is posted every Friday and represents some of the cooler and interesting mobility, wireless and collaboration news Mobility PR has read throughout the week.

Hydrogen fuel cells coming to a mobile phone near you? We love hot new technology, as long as it doesn’t burn.

***

On Tuesday, Plaxo users received an email from Plaxo CEO Ben Golub, and the company’s two founders stating “We are excited to announce some of the biggest news in the history of Plaxo. Plaxo has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Comcast,” The email included a link to the official announcement, a link to a newly strengthened privacy policy and a link to an announcement Q&A on the deal addressing users potential concerns.

***

A recent study by IDC and sponsored by Nortel suggested that more than one-third of workers would choose their mobile phone over their wallet, keys, laptop or digital music player if they had to leave the house for 24 hours and could take only one item.

***

In the “no kidding” department, a new consumer survey from IBM’s Institute for Business Value says consumers want more choice when it comes to mobile phone service. According to the report, 80 percent of consumers said they’d prefer a service provider that gave them more choice in the applications and services available on their mobile device.

***

Tired of Twitter constantly being down? Here’s a list of nine mobile social media sites to visit when – not if – Twitter is down again.

And speaking of Twitter, in response to Twitter users “Twit-Out” (a 24-hour boycott of the popular service in response to repeated service outages) Sarah Perez of ReadWriteWeb questioned if in light of recent world tragedies we should refocus our efforts and leverage social media superpowers to make a real difference in the world. She asks,

We know how to spread news fast, share images and videos, organize our friends, and empower others all by using the same social media tools that we use in our every day lives. Isn’t it time we put them to use towards a good cause?” The article that follows outlines some great examples of exactly how that can be done.

***

With all his spare time, Ewan at SMS Text News has launched a weekly podcast. The 40-minute episodes feature news, interviews and “Applications of the Week” segments.