The intriguing $100-million-plus purchase today of Associated Content by Yahoo has raised several questions about the direction and function of the company. There are significant implications for the news business.
In Yahoo's case, some questions: Is it now a full-fledged publisher? Is it mounting a new offensive against Google? Is it going to lead to the purchase and IPOs of other content machines?
In the wider case of the industry, is the deal the portend of others that will shift the balance between producers and advertisers? Are we deepening the era of directed content?
Ken Doctor weighs in and argues we are into an era of advertising driving content in ways it hasn't. The purchase of a content machine like Associated Content suggests the principle is in greater play than ever, with Yahoo able to offer advertisers content they want.
"News sites, in this scenario, are increasingly distributors, exercising some choice of what appears on their sites, under their own brands," he writes.
Media companies had better get used to the new landscape of targeted good-enough pro-am content based on user behaviour, Doctor suggests.
In Yahoo's case, some questions: Is it now a full-fledged publisher? Is it mounting a new offensive against Google? Is it going to lead to the purchase and IPOs of other content machines?
In the wider case of the industry, is the deal the portend of others that will shift the balance between producers and advertisers? Are we deepening the era of directed content?
Ken Doctor weighs in and argues we are into an era of advertising driving content in ways it hasn't. The purchase of a content machine like Associated Content suggests the principle is in greater play than ever, with Yahoo able to offer advertisers content they want.
"News sites, in this scenario, are increasingly distributors, exercising some choice of what appears on their sites, under their own brands," he writes.
Media companies had better get used to the new landscape of targeted good-enough pro-am content based on user behaviour, Doctor suggests.
