building the information valet economy sustaining news and information through a shared-user network
TRANSCRIPT
Building the Information Valet Economy
Sustaining news and information through a shared-user network
http://www.Informationvalet.org
http://www.ivpblueprint.org
Bill Densmore
October 9, 2008
Key goal
Assemble a coalition of publishers, advertisers, technology and financial-services companies in a federated-authentication / shared-user network for internet information commerce.
Key results 1) Online users to easily share, sell and buy
content across multiple Web sites with one ID, password, account and bill.
2) Update role, effectiveness, compensation for online advertising through personalization
3) But … user privacy/profile management controlled by the consumer.
“The evidence is mounting that the news industry must become more aggressive about developing a new economic model.”
--Project for Excellence in Journalism, The State of the Media 2007
Problem recognition
“ ‘Long term, we've got to get paid for news (online) or we can't keep producing it,’ [Singleton] said. But he said that it has to be an industry-wide solution and not just one paper acting alone.”
-- Dean Singleton, CEO, Media News Group Posted April 28, 2006 at: http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/business/14446579.htm
Problem recognition
“We must change how we charge for content . . . One-size-fits-all on the business side has to evolve. Tiered pricing with premiums for timeliness or comprehensiveness is one option.”
- Tom Curley, AP CEO, Nov. 10, 2007
Solutions
“ . . . [T]he more time I’ve spent on this, while I think there are legal things, enforcement things, etc., etc., they are not the meaningful way to fight piracy. The meaningful way to fight piracy is you need to give consumers legitimate options to get what they want.”
-- Peter Chernin, president, News Corp. Aug. 4, 2008, interview with Charlie Rose
Solutions
“Maybe the solution isn't to escape the market, but to empower it. Modern computing offers unparalleled capacities to track and calculate. Imagine a vast menu of news and commentary offered to you ad-free for pennies per item, the charges micro-billed, added up and presented like a utility bill at month's end. -- Edward Wasserman, Washington & Lee Univ.
Miami Herald column published Feb. 18, 2008
Solutions
“Buffet muses out loud: ‘The ideal combination would be if The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and The Post had a joint web site, and you couldn’t get any one individually. That, you could sell for a fair amount of money, and it would have one hell of a readership.’ ’’
-- Warren Buffett, quoted in Fortune Magazine, July 26, 2007 / http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/08/06/100141340/
Solutions
The Situation Today
Journalism is expensive, and mass-market web advertising alone will not sustain it
Subscriptions for content puts up walls that destroy the unity of the open web
Sustaining journalism requires rethinking the very notion of news as a service, not a product
The Situation Tomorrow The news industry becomes a trusted and
ubiquitous advisor, authenticator and retailer of all web content
Audiences are measured through a federated network that also tracks and shares revenues for ads and content
Consumer controls demographics, and can be rewarded for looking at ads and sponsored content.
Sophisticated pricing and bundling options give consumers more buying power by subscription or per click
The Information Valet An Information Valet is each user’s
most-trusted gateway to the web
The gateway can be any site that chooses to participate such as the newspaper, Facebook, a U.S Bank or VISA
Participants benefit by helping users find the content and services they want
The Concept Collaborative system owned by larger
users, not equity stakeholders – non-threatening because it cannot be “rolled up” by a dominant player
Establish value for the delivery of specialized audiences, and reward gateway sites for providing this service
Demographics are shared based on the opt-in permissions set by consumers
For Consumers A single user ID that works everywhere Get paid for viewing ads One-stop method for buying text, music,
movies, services One bill for all online content purchases Privacy controls to protect personal data A more personalized online experience Faster, easier access to the content you
want Opportunities to exchange personal data for
access to premium content
“What will happen next is that the audience will say: If you’re going to sell us to advertisers, then you’ve got to pay us. And that’s the long-term challenge that I think newspapers are going to be facing.”
-- Paul Maidment, exec. Editor, Forbes Magazine Interviewed during “On the Media,” Feb. 25, 2005 http://www.onthemedia.org/yore/transcripts/trnascripts_022505_aboutface.html
The value of one
For Valets Valets compete to be best at meeting
consumers’ diverse information needs Each valet is compensated for finding,
shaping and referring audiences Valets help advertisers present targeted
messages to end users who opt-in Internet advertising becomes more
valuable Convert 50M newspaper customers to
web-info customers
HOW IT WORKS Flash animation shows flow of
information from consumer to websites to network authentication and logging service. Key points:
No permanent central user database Only enhanced log report saved for
periodic settlement User controls level of demographic
sharing http://tinyurl.com/4amatq
Project tasks
Convene cooperative members Form, capitalize association Manage network/technology build Establish rules for enumerating, exchanging
value Assure privacy; opt-in demographic sharing Contract some operating pieces
What’s the result
News organizations paid as service providers – gateways to premium ($$) or sponsored (ads) info anywhere
Users get a simplified, personalized web experience
New revenue sources unlocked (wholesale/retail); personalized ads/services
What can you do? Help identify founding collaborators
Invent new forms of ad personalization/targetting
Assert that news has value or it goes away
Be creative about originating, remixing information that’s unique, needed
Building Info Valet economy
Thank-you! Sustaining news and information through a shared-user network
http://www.informationvalet.org
Bill Densmore
Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute
October 9, 2008 573-882-9812