Google knew from the beginning that they weren’t the first or only news aggregators around, so what they touted at setting them apart from other was their thoroughness.

We’re not simply looking at the byline or the source, but instead we analyze every word in every story to understand what location the news is about and where the source is located.

Today, on the official Google News blog, they are announcing the “news near you” feature on Google News mobile. 

Here’s how it works:

When you visit news.google.com from your Android of iPhone mobile browser for the first time, you will see a pop-up notification that asks for persmission to share your current location.  Privacy concerns be damned, if you want local news you’re going to have to let them pinpoint you.

Considering you say yes, “news near you” will then appear at the bottom of the homepage.  It will also be accessible at the “jump to” tab on the top right.  Users can reorganize the sections to put “news near you” at the top on the personalization page.

These findings come from a survey of 2,251 conducted in January by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Project for Excellence in Journalism, in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The information people search for on mobile platforms is practical and real time: 42 percent of mobile device owners say they get weather updates and 37 percent get information about restaurants or other local businesses on their phones or tablets.

Just 13% of all mobile device owners report having an app that helps them get local information or news, which represents 11% of the total American adult population. While almost half of adults get local news on mobile devices, just 1 in 10 use apps to do so. Call it the “app gap.”

“Many news organizations are looking to mobile platforms, in particular mobile apps, to provide new ways to generate subscriber and advertising revenues in local markets,” noted Lee Rainie, Director of The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. “The survey suggests there is a long way to go before that happens.”

One question in the news industry is whether the willingness to pay for online content would grow if people faced the prospect of their local media not surviving. Asked about the value of online access to their local newspaper, 23% of survey respondents say they would pay $5 a month to get full access to local newspaper content online. When asked if they would pay $10 per month, 18% of adults say yes. Both figures are substantially higher than the percentage of adults (5%) who currently pay for online local news content. Nonetheless, roughly three-quarters say they would not pay anything.

When asked about the value of their local newspaper:

*28% of Americans say the loss of the local newspaper would have a major impact on their ability to keep up with local information.

*30% say it would have a minor impact

*39% say the loss of the newspaper would have no impact.

“While on the surface these findings may look bad for news organizations, there is some potentially good news in the data. We found that adults who consume local news on mobile devices are almost twice as likely as other adults to say they would be willing to pay to access their local newspaper online,” said Kristen Purcell, Associate Director for Research at the Pew Internet Project.

“The percentage willing to pay is even higher among local app users, so there’s evidence that this new mobile local news consumer sees value in their local newspaper.”

AOL plans to hire 500 journalists to support its Patch expansion and it will likely be the largest hirer of full-time journalists in the U.S. this year.

"Today’s launch of our 100th site is a significant milestone for us. We began with just three Patch communities in February 2009, and have since made incredible progress toward fulfilling our core mission of providing comprehensive information and trusted, professional news coverage to towns and communities," said Warren Webster, President, Patch Media.

AOL hopes its Patch network will be positioned to tap an estimated $20 billion in local online advertising dollars. Each Patch site is managed by one professional local editor, along with freelancers focused on covering news in a specific community.

Patch sites have launched in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia. The 2010 expansion includes plans to extend Patch’s reach into more than a dozen new states including Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.

"All news is essentially local, and the pace at which Patch has grown shows that the demand for meaningful community news and information is alive and well," said Phil Meyer, Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a member of the Patch Editorial Advisory Board.
 

Patch.org will partner with community foundations and other organizations to launch sites and bring local news and information to communities that lack adequate news media and online local information.

For each of the sites launched via Patch.org, a professional journalist will produce news and information about the area and manage user-contributed events, announcements, photos and video. Patch.org will consider funding and partnership requests for other appropriate projects.  AOL says all profits will be returned to where the sites are based.

"In a shifting media landscape, the loss of local and community newspapers has created a troubling gap in some communities making reliable objective news and information about critical issues such as local government, schools and services unavailable," said Warren Webster, President, Patch Media.

"Patch.org will empower residents of these neighborhoods with professional journalism, data and information to help shed light on the issues that are so important to their daily lives."

Patch.org will be managed with the support of AOL’s subsidiary Patch Media. The charitable foundation will operate along with Patch’s Give 5 program, which donates advertising space and employee volunteer time to charitable organizations in local communities.
 

More than half (57%) of the 3,050 respondents cited local newspaper websites as the top online source for local information. That percentage increases for upper income households (63%) and for the college educated (60%).

Newspaper sites ranked first as a source for local information (29%), local sports (27%), local entertainment (26%) and local classifieds (39%), over both local television websites and online portals.

"This important research provides further evidence of newspapers’ successful multiplatform transition, with the medium serving as a continuous local resource for consumers," said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm.

"While newspaper Web sites often face dozens of competitors touting their own local offerings in any given market, they have been able to thrive by leveraging trusted brands and strong local content to appeal to consumers and advertisers alike."

Local newspaper websites ranked first among all sources for trustworthiness, credibility and being the most informative place to find local content of all types, including news, information, entertainment, sports and classified advertising. When respondents were asked what sources were most trustworthy or reliable, local newspaper websites beat out local television sites (34% vs. 22%), local sports (30% vs. 24%), local entertainment (30% vs. 20%) and local classifieds (42% vs. 13 %).

The survey also found that people consider local newspaper websites to be the most trusted source of online advertising, with ads that are seen to be more current, credible and relevant to them.

Forty percent of adults agreed their opinion of online advertising is influenced by the type of website on which the ad appears. More than one third (36%) selected local newspaper websites for trustworthy advertising compared to 23 percent for local television websites and 12 percent for online portals. This was true across all demographics.

"This survey reinforces the notion that consumers value and trust the premium-quality content found at newspaper Web sites as well as the advertising on those sites," said Randy Bennett, NAA’s senior vice president of Business Development.

"It also provides further evidence that newspapers, which attracted a record 75 million visitors in January, offer advertisers a high-value audience that no other medium can match."

Microsoft says the partnerships with NBC Local Media and Hearst Television will give MSN around 3,000 news video clips a week across 36 local media markets. The new video content will be available in January 2010.

Microsoft sees a big opportunity with local and video. Local online advertising is projected to grow to $10 billion by 2013. The company also notes that 62 percent of online adults have watched a video online and 35 percent have viewed a televsion show or movie online.

NBC Local Media will provide video clips from their "Locals Only" websites in Los Angeles, San Francisco/Bay Area, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Washington, DC, Connecticut, and Miami.

Hearst Television will offer local video clips in Albuquerque, Baltimore, Boston,  Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY; Cincinnati, Des Moines, Ft. Smith, AR; Greensboro / Winston-Salem, NC; Greenville, SC; Honolulu, Jackson, MS; Kansas City, Lancaster / Harrisburg, PA; Louisville,  Manchester, NH; Milwaukee, Monterey, CA; New Orleans,  Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Portland, ME; Sacramento, and West Palm Beach.
 

Related Articles:

> Microsoft Unveils Big Redesign Of MSN

> Microsoft Partners With Advance Internet On Local Ad Deal

> Bing Gets More Mobile Features in The US

The FCC has had a rough start to the New Year. A long simmering issue over Internet traffic-shaping practices by Comcast has bubbled into an FCC investigation.

But Martin and the FCC itself will be investigated as well. The House Energy & Commerce Committee isn’t pleased with the FCC’s relaxing of media ownership rules, nor the process with which Martin has pushed through those corporate-friendly rules.

In December, the FCC voted to allow media companies to own newspapers and broadcast companies in the twenty biggest cities in the US. Reuters cited Martin’s contention that the ruling “may help to forestall the erosion in local news coverage.”

Homogenized ownership of broadcast media has been a fixture in broadcasting for some time. It’s common for one company, like Clear Channel, to own multiple radio stations in a single city. The Senate and the House aren’t happy with the FCC’s ruling.

While the House prepares to grill Martin, the FCC plans to take a long-overdue look at Comcast. In August 2007, Consumerist and other sites noted Comcast interfering with BitTorrent traffic, a move the provider later claimed was to improve overall network performance.

Comcast has long said they do not block traffic, but an AP report from October 2007 proved the company does interfere with torrents. An AP report cited Martin’s commenting at CES 2008, where he confirmed an investigation into the traffic shaping practice.

The issue of net neutrality will accompany that inquiry. By traffic shaping, Comcast gives some traffic priority over other transmissions on its broadband network. If the FCC finds no problems with that traffic shaping, regulations requiring a protocol-agnostic approach to providing service will be needed to ensure a uniform experience for consumers.

]]> http://www.webpronews.com/fcc-at-center-of-net-media-controversy-2008-01/feed 0 http://www.webpronews.com/local-and-social-sites-swiping-big-media-visitors-2007-05 http://www.webpronews.com/local-and-social-sites-swiping-big-media-visitors-2007-05#comments Tue, 01 May 2007 20:28:48 +0000 WebProNews Staff http://www.webpronews.com/?p=37378 In the last year, social media sites and local news have been pulling visitors away from traditional online news and media sources, according to Hitwise. Regardless of where online media consumers end up though, they begin with a search engine.
]]> In the last year, social media sites and local news have been pulling visitors away from traditional online news and media sources, according to Hitwise. Regardless of where online media consumers end up though, they begin with a search engine.

That’s good news for sites like Digg.com, YouTube, and Topix.com – not so much for traditional news sites. Hitwise says the share of traffic leaving the News and Media industry for multimedia sites jumped by 196% between April 2006 and April 2007.

Hitwise’s findings are part of its US News and Media Report, which examines trends in online news consumption. The latest trend is consumers seeking unfiltered, candid information they can’t find at traditional news outlets.

Overall, the market share of visits to the top 10 News and Media websites declined by almost 4% between March 2006 and March 2007, at slope Hitwise says indicates that news consumption is beginning to fragment among a range of sources.

The nearly 200% spike in traffic between traditional and multimedia news sites represents users spilling over from major news reports to additional sources. For example, Internet users wanting to know more about Saddam Hussein’s hanging or Steve Irwin’s freak accident left the major news sites for YouTube in pursuit of video of the events.

While that says a lot about human nature, it’s also a tide shift in news consumption as online news gatherers seek out multiple sources of information. Blogs, too, received a fair portion of that downstream traffic, especially the top 20 celebrity gossip blogs, which grew by 42% between November 2006 and March 2007.

Over the last year, the share of visits to PerezHilton.com (which says, unfortunately, even more about human nature) spiked by 621%, as users swarmed for uncensored celebrity information.

 "News events in 2006 exposed Internet users to emerging sources of online information," said LeeAnn Prescott, director of research at Hitwise and author of the report.

"Search engines were more likely to be the first step for Internet users in their search for information about breaking events, and search engine results from news video services, video sites like YouTube, and blogs were more likely to contain the information they sought, thus hastening the growth of non-traditional news sources."

 Google in particular served as the biggest single source of traffic for print news websites and broadcast media sites, receiving 29.7% and 35.9% of their overall traffic from the search giant last year respectively.

Topix.com, a site that gathered some attention after its recent redesign, experienced an 81% increase over the past year; Hitwise attributes its growth to the increased need for local news content online. Topix showed "above average representation with users in rural states such as Kentucky and South Dakota."

(Not to split hairs, but Kentucky – where WebProNews lives – isn’t in quite the same rural camp, if you will, as South Dakota. With a population of 4 million, Kentucky’s no metropolis, but it is sizably larger than SD’s 700,000 citizens, thank you very much. Simon Cowell and American Idol are receiving letters from Governor Fletcher as we speak, regarding our reputation – even if preconceptions change slower’n a broke-kneed turtle.)