Google News Initiative Partners with Lee Enterprises and TownNews on Dynamic Paywall
November 11 2019 - 6:45AM
Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE: LEE), a leading provider of
news, information, and advertising in 50 markets, announced today
that the Google News Initiative is partnering with Lee Enterprises
and its digital technology subsidiary, TownNews, to expedite the
development of a machine learning-based paywall technology.
“Google and TownNews are the leading technology providers for
our industry, and Google ML, coupled with TownNews’ technology
platform, is ideally suited to turn data we’re already gathering
into action,” said Lee Vice President of Digital James Green. “We
know that users engage with local news in a variety of ways across
our sites. Some visit daily, while others visit much less
frequently. By applying artificial intelligence to information such
as frequency of use, the type of content viewed, and the location
of the user, we can better serve our readers and reach our audience
goals.”
According to Green, the amount of content a user consumes before
being encouraged to subscribe would vary based on the user’s
previous actions and a model developed by Google ML, Lee and
TownNews. Those readers who are deemed more likely to subscribe
would receive fewer content views, while those with a lower
probability may be served a larger amount of content to sample.
“The great benefit of metering the use of our sites is that it
supports the high value of our unique local content and drives
digital subscriptions,” Green added. “But, it does create
challenges in that it limits our opportunity to serve advertising
to our users. We believe that a smart, dynamic meter is a huge step
forward because it is a means to support both revenue streams.”
Jason Washing, Managing Director, News Partnerships at Google
shared: "Today, publishers have access to extensive data, but
making sense of the numbers and putting those insights to work can
be a challenge. We're thrilled to use Google's machine learning
technology to help Lee and TownNews develop a dynamic paywall,
which will provide a tailored experience for readers and the right
meter strategy for Lee's business. Once complete, this technology
and associated best practices will be openly shared to expand the
impact."
Brad Ward, CEO of TownNews, added: “Streamlining the process of
converting browsers to subscribers is a crucial piece of the
revenue puzzle for many of our local media partners. As the leading
provider of Content Management Systems for local media, our ability
to leverage the expertise of Lee and Google will allow TownNews to
rapidly enhance our paywall technology with innovative features
that grow revenue for all of our customers, and move the industry
forward.”
The company plans to begin testing the program in December.
ABOUT LEE
Lee Enterprises is a leading provider of local news and
information, and a major platform for advertising, with daily
newspapers, rapidly growing digital products and nearly 300 weekly
and specialty publications serving 50 markets in 20 states. Year to
date, Lee's newspapers have average circulation of 0.7 million
daily and 1.0 million Sunday, and are estimated to reach almost
three million readers in print alone. Lee's markets include St.
Louis, MO; Lincoln, NE; Madison, WI; Davenport, IA; Billings, MT;
Bloomington, IL; and Tucson, AZ. Lee Common Stock is traded on the
New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LEE. For more information
about Lee, please visit www.lee.net.Contact:Charles
ArmsCharles.Arms@lee.net(563) 383-2100
About the Google News InitiativeThe Google News
Initiative represents Google's largest-ever effort to help
journalism thrive in the digital age. Through its partnerships,
programs and products, the Google News Initiative works with
thousands of organizations worldwide to support quality independent
journalism, financial sustainability, and development of new
technologies that drive innovation. Google invested $300 million
over three years to energize these collaborations, and to lay the
foundation for new products and programs for a diverse set of news
publishers, to benefit the entire ecosystem. This includes
supporting thought leadership on topics like consumer revenue,
advertising and data that are critical to the future of the news
industry.
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