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Meta is killing off its Instant Articles format for news stories
The company said it 'doesn’t make sense to over invest in areas that don't align with user preferences.'
Music industry avoids legal battle with new streaming royalty deal
Music publishers, songwriters and musicians have struck a deal with streaming services for US mechanical streaming rates for 2023-2027.
Meta will no longer pay US publishers for news content
After Meta's revenue shrank for the first time, the company has reportedly told publishers it will no longer pay for content to run in Facebook's News Tab.
France fines Google $590 million in latest antitrust action
Regulators say the company offered publishers 'negligible' payments for using their news content.
Facebook jumpstarts newsletter ambitions with $5 million for indie writers
The company will prioritize reporters who plan to cover marginalized communities.
Facebook blocks users from sharing news links in Australia
Politicians are set to vote on a bill that would force tech giants to pay for content.
Facebook's News tab arrives in the UK
Facebook News tab's UK rollout is the first expansion of the feature outside the US.
Google agrees to pay French publishers for news previews
Google has signed a deal with publishers in France to pay for content used for preview snippets in its news section.
Facebook pilot links user profiles with online news subscriptions
Facebook is testing an account-linking feature that connects users' profiles with their news subscriptions.
Facebook is expanding its dedicated news section to more countries
Facebook plans to expand its News section outside the US in the next six to 12 months.
Major news organizations join the fight against Apple’s App Store fees
News sites have joined Epic and Spotify in fighting Apple’s high App Store commissions (via the WSJ). A group representing the New York Times, WSJ and other major publishers wants Apple to reduce the 30 percent cut it currently takes on first year subscriptions. “The terms of Apple’s unique marketplace greatly impact the ability to continue to invest in high-quality, trusted news and entertainment particularly in competition with other larger firms,” said Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next (DCN).
Facebook will prioritize original reporting in its News Feed
In an effort to prioritize original reporting, Facebook is updating the way it ranks news stories in News Feed.
Google will pay publishers for 'high-quality' news and absorb paywall costs
Google has announced that it will start paying publishers to license “high-quality” content in an upcoming service it’s describing as a “news experience.” The announcement appears to confirm rumors from earlier this year that Google planned to launch a news site much like Apple News+.
Book publishers sue Internet Archive for allegedly enabling piracy
Four major publishers filed a lawsuit against the Internet Archive for alleged “willful mass copyright infringement" related to its Open Library.
Google proposed, then abandoned, a website tipping feature
Google had been working on a tipping tool that let readers donate small sums of money to their favorite sites.
Google brings AMP-powered search to Google Images
Google wants to make it easier for users to search for content through Google Images. To do so, it's rolling out a new, AMP-powered Swipe to Visit feature. When you select an image, you'll see a preview of the website header at the bottom of the screen. You can keep scrolling through Google Images, or swipe up on the preview to load the AMP (accelerated mobile pages) version of the site.
Epic Mega Sale loses two pre-order titles on day one
Yesterday, Epic launched a "mega sale," offering games at up to 75 percent off and additional $10 credits for purchases over $14.99. It looked like Epic was preparing to go head-to-head with the Steam Sale, which is scheduled to arrive at the end of June. But by the end of the day, fans noticed two titles mysteriously vanished from the Epic Store, and the price of another seemed to increase.
YouTube will label videos to help European users avoid fake news
Google has launched some new tools in a bid to fight misinformation about upcoming elections in Europe. A large part of that effort is focused on YouTube, where Google will launch publisher transparency labels in Europe, showing news sources which receive government or public funding. Those were unveiled in the US back in February, but had yet to arrive in the EU. "Our goal here is to equip you with more information to help you better understand the sources of news content that you choose to watch on YouTube," the company said.
Spotify opens up its streaming data to music publishers
Spotify seems to be focused on building stronger relationships with musicians, having added features such as easier music uploads and allowing them to submit tracks to playlist editors for consideration. It's made overtures to songwriters as well, including with its Secret Genius program and adding songwriter and producer credits. The latest effort to foster ties with the industry is Publishing Analytics, which the company says is "the first analytics tool from a music streaming service built specifically for publishers, so they can better serve their songwriters."
Steam lets game developers customize their homepages
Steam has put its new Creator Homepages into open beta, letting developers and publishers customize their homepages to better show off their game catalogs. There's a lot of flexibility -- publishers can divide their portfolios up however they wish, so they could split them by genre, or fan-favorites, for example. And for new creators, or those without an extensive catalog, the space can be also be used to announce new projects or showcase concept art. Fans can follow their favorite publishers directly from their homepage to get notifications when updates, announcements or new titles are released.
