By Jay Greene 

Microsoft Corp.'s LinkedIn plans Wednesday to add a stream of links to news and posts from the site that is curated by editors, in a bid to convince customers to linger longer on the professional social network.

The new feature, called Trending Storylines, is the latest attempt by LinkedIn to drive engagement among its 467 million members, particularly those who only visit the site when looking for a new job. The more frequently people visit LinkedIn, the more revenue the company can generate from ads and useful member data.

Trending Storylines will exist alongside the regular news feed under a "Trending" tab on the mobile app and at the top right of the desktop site's homepage.

LinkedIn has 25 employees on its editorial team around the globe who will select and, in some cases, write on the major issues of the day in health care, technology and finance to fill the feed. More topics are expected later. The feed will use algorithms, based in part on a member's industry and contacts, to show people relevant storylines.

LinkedIn ultimately wants to be more like Facebook and Twitter, social networks that have become digital destinations. That would drive ad revenue, which LinkedIn generates in large measure through "sponsored content" that appears in users' LinkedIn feeds.

In the third quarter of 2016 -- LinkedIn's last quarter as a publicly held company -- the company generated $175 million in revenue from its marketing-solutions unit, with about two-thirds coming from sponsored content. The company stopped disclosing that revenue after the Microsoft acquisition.

"That's the primary mechanism in which we monetize our feed," David Thacker, LinkedIn's vice president of product, said in an interview.

The company also believes better-engaged members are more likely to add their latest promotions and accomplishments to their profiles, connect with more members, and post more comments offering insight into their work interests. That data is a key reason Microsoft last year paid $27 billion for the company.

When woven into Microsoft's customer-relationship management applications, those up-to-date profiles could help give sales representatives better access to prospects and more insight into the executives to whom they are making pitches.

The goal is to make LinkedIn "a daily habit," Mr. Thacker said, that will "provide dividends for all our businesses."

LinkedIn's biggest challenge may be convincing members, many of whom already frequent other social networks, to find additional time to loiter on its site. Surfacing news that is relevant to its members' work life is a start, said Susan Etlinger, an analyst with the Altimeter Group, an industry research firm.

"The issue for LinkedIn is that it's competing for attention with platforms whose currency is attention," Ms. Etlinger said.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 22, 2017 09:14 ET (13:14 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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