Apps, platforms, niche magazines, and shifts in “all you can read” model highlight latest digital publishing products
Determining the digital publishing products your company can excel with is a key consideration when launching or remaking your magazine business model.
This might seem obvious, but it’s not difficult to take a cursory look around the industry and find digital publishers who try to fit square pegs into round holes instead of sticking to what works for their hard-won audiences.
At the same time, many observers will pronounce various digital publishing products dead at the drop of a hat, but the fact of the matter is, it doesn’t matter if a mobile app or a platform or a distribution service doesn’t work for the rest of the business as long as it works for you.
This idea is exemplified by the magazines and publishers covered by MediaPost’s Publishers Daily recently. Let’s start the week by taking a look at what they’ve discovered.
Washington Post Updates “Classic” iPad App
The Washington Post, newly crowned king of web traffic, has updated its Classic iPad App, including a feature that deletes a downloaded issue if it goes unread for three days, MediaPost’s Publishers Daily reports.
“The Washington Post ‘Classic’ iPad app differs from the newer Washington Post app, which launched shortly after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought the paper from Donald Graham. It included national and international news coverage, photography and infographics. This app contains stories for WaPo’s national and international readership,” Sara Guaglione writes.
“The Washington Post ‘Classic’ iPad app, on the other hand, includes national and international content along with local news and weather, arts and entertainment. It also includes a digital replica of the metro D.C. print edition and combines an online news section as well as the ability to download and read a version of the print newspaper.”
AOL Consolidates Publishing Platforms
One by AOL:Publishers is among the latest digital publishing tools to help magazines monetize with engagement, analytics, and other services as part of a suite available to clients, MediaPost’s Publishers Daily reports.
[text_ad]
“It became kind of a mess to be honest. The ‘aha’ moment for us last year was realizing that we have a billion dollars of acquisitions in AOL that are dedicated to publishers. Instead of selling them seven different products, why aren’t we doing something similar to what the advertisers did and go to the publishers with one solution?” AOL President of Publisher Platforms Tim Mahlman told Guaglione.
“The target that I have from my boss … is going to be measured by the amount of companies leveraging not just one but two, three or five products that are in our portfolio. That’s a metric of how deep we get with our publishers.”
Bauer Media Debuts Sites for Two Women’s Magazines
Bauer Xcel Media has released websites for Woman’s World and First for Women, two longstanding print products, MediaPost’s Publishers Daily reports.
“Now is the perfect time to add Woman’s World and First for Women to Bauer Xcel Media’s digital portfolio, as women of all ages embrace digital and especially social channels,” Bauer Xcel Media President of U.S. Operations Christian Baesler told Guaglione.
Magzter Opts for Article-Centric Newsstand Service
“Netflix for magazines” Magzter is shifting from a title-based to article-based newsstand, complete with search and sharing features, MediaPost’s Publishers Daily reports.
“The app’s new Global Search engine lets users type in their interest to find relevant articles and offers trending keywords updated daily. Users can save and follow keywords to keep up-to-date on any new content. Articles on the app are categorized by topic or keywords, rather than by brands. Users can access these articles offline, setting the digital newsstand apart from a Google News Search,” Guaglione writes.
“Magzster has also put more focus on its sharing capabilities. Users can send an article link to friends to open through a browser or with the app, as well as ‘Clip’ a part of the magazine to save or share through text or email or post via social media.”
Build, improve, and even invent new digital publishing products with the Mequoda Method. Start with a free download of our Multiplatform Publishing Strategy Handbook!
To read more about digital publishing products in the news, visit MediaPost’s Publishers Daily.
