By Lewis D'Vorkin
February 25, 2019
(Credits: John and Janet Foster - Getty Images)
For years, I paced in circles, too, trapped inside the 100-year-old text-based story template. Media outlets religiously reformatted, repurposed and squeezed the time-worn standard into ever smaller and longer scrolling screens. Journalists found comfort in all their words. Readers, well, they wanted more.
Sure, Snapchat is struggling, but Instagram is booming after copying what Snapchat invented. Five hundred million people use Instagram Stories every day. They tap through editorial content - and ad messages, too. In fact, 30% of the most-viewed IG Stories are published by marketers.
Newsrooms and brands - in fact, any publisher on the content continuum - must take advantage of a mobile device's unique features: better cameras, bigger screens, faster connections and 360-degree screen navigation. Their customers do it for pleasure. They welcome trusted information sources to do it, too.
Our attention spans are not what they used to be (see the next scene). But we do process images at amazing speeds. MIT researchers say it takes 13 milliseconds to process an image (it takes longer to blink: 100 milliseconds).
Publishers need to capture our fleeting attention - on smartphones or any of the new connected devices hitting the market. I have an Amazon Echo in my kitchen and a Google Home Assistant in my bedroom. I get news wrap-ups and weather much faster with each than with my smartphone. But I'm soon off to the Web looking for more.
A Reuters study estimated the average U.S. consumer uses 1.5 news apps. That means newsrooms must make their stories come alive visually on the mobile Web.
I found this searching the Newsroom AI Getty library. Our partners can use the library, too.
On my Pixel home screen I keep links to infographic stories that explain things better than thousands of words. None are monetized. Publishers must encapsulate reporting for mobile Web consumers (with access to the full story). Then, they must monetize the info on their sites rather than inside the new walled gardens where they have little control.
Sales teams need a new solution, too - a way to more revenue without even more banners.
No, consumers don't need one more "Around the Web" unit under a post peddling fried eggs and other ridiculousness.
I've searched far and wide for the promised land of telling stories on mobile devices. You can swipe up to read my tales from the mobile trenches. Now I've found an exciting path forward.
Newsroom AI started thinking: what makes a great consumer experience for the mobile Web - and what are the tools for the job? The answer: tappable, sequential, immersive, visual storytelling, with ads that enhance rather than disrupt the experience. In short: a modern-day alternative to old-style text-based articles.
Newsroom AI has built two flagship platforms - a publishing suite called the Studio and a monetization platform called Newsroom-X.
Newsroom AI's Studio is different from a content management system. A CMS is typically conceived and built around editorial roles and processes, that is, the journalist's job. Newsroom AI's Studio is an editorial and native advertising layer that thinks of the consumer first. Effectively, it sits atop a CMS.
Newsroom AI is different because our DNA is different. We have a deep understanding of ad technology, monetization and content distribution. So, we built an easy-to-use publishing suite for the visual Web that prioritizes the experience first - and that means better ads, too.
Newsroom-X is built for rich media and native ads. Publishers can insert video ads or ad images - or clearly labeled tappable stories from advertisers - between scenes or as consumers swipe from one story to the next. Sponsorships can be built into editorial scenes, too. The options are unlimited.
Tap to see what your sponsored scenes could look like.
I'm the CEO of Newsroom AI – and I’m thrilled. We want to work with newsrooms, brands, marketers, PR companies and publishers of all kinds to build great visual experiences for the mobile Web - the kind one billion consumers seem to like.
lewis@nws.ai