M A R C H 2 4 , 2 0 1 5 J U L I A L E R O U X - L I N D S E Y

News Aggregators

Also Known As…

!  Feed Aggregator !  Feed Reader !  News Reader !  RSS Reader !  Aggregator What is it? A software or web application that consolidates syndicated web content such as online newspapers, blogs, podcasts, and vlogs in one location for easy viewing.

Image from http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/02/14/11-ways-to-find-new-rss-subscribers-for-your-blog/

Types: News Aggregation Websites

!  Uses algorithms to group similar stories together from news sources

!  Examples: !  Google News !  Huffington Post !  Daily Beast !  SmartNews

Screenshot from www.news.google.com

Types: Feed Readers

!  Users add their favorite web feed sources (blog, news, etc.) into one, single feed

!  Linked to a personal account

!  Examples: !  Digg !  Feedly

Screenshot from www.feedly.com

Types: Topic-Based News Readers

!  Track and follow topics !  Aggregates related

tweets, a wikipedia page, articles, etc.

!  Attractive GUI !  Examples:

!  Pipes

Screenshot from www.pipesapp.com

Advantages Disadvantages

!  Convenience !  Smart Suggestions !  Customizable !  Mobile Optimization !  Social Sharing

!  Information Overload !  Up-Front Time

Investment

Evaluation: As a User

Advantages Disadvantages

!  Convenience for Users !  Smart Suggestions !  Social Media

Connections

!  Loss of Integrity !  Loss of Site Traffic !  Loss of Individuality !  Algorithms in Charge

Evaluation: As a Marketing Manager

Recommendations

!  As a Marketing Manager: !  Make sure your site is easily imported/subscribed via these

News Aggregators " Add and prominently display ‘RSS Subscribe’ button: " Add other Social Media buttons for easy sharing:

!  Make sure your blog/web site feed is compatible with News Aggregators " Requires some XML code standardization and metadata " Already set up for typical site builders like blogger, wordpress, etc.

!  Develop a way to make your articles stand out from the rest of the readers’ subscriptions " Photos, media, and headlines are important

Future: Social Media Aggregators

!  Collects content from social media, news sources, and other sites

!  Aesthetics are important !  Optimized for mobile !  Examples:

!  Flipboard !  Nuzzel

Screenshot from www.flipboard.com

Future Trends

!  “News About News” !  Even Smarter and More

Social Feeds !  Example: Blur

!  Apps vs Browser-based !  Pricing

Image from http://www.newsblur.com/

References

!  The 10 Best News Aggregator Apps For Those On The Go. Sumply Zesty. Retrieved March 23, 2015, from http://www.simplyzesty.com/Blog/Article/September-2012/The-10-Best-News-Aggregator-Apps-For-Those-On-The-Go

!  Cheredar, T. (2013, May 22). Zite's new iOS app update welcomes (but doesn't cater to) mournful Google Reader users. Venture Beat. Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/22/zite-holds-wake-for-google-reader/

!  Feedly. Retrieved March 15, 2015, from www.feedly.com !  Flipbaord. Retrieved March 15, 2015, from www.flipboard.com !  Google News. Retrieved March 15, 2015, from www.news.google.com !  Hansell, S. (2002, September 24). All the News Google Algorithms Say Is Fit to Print. The New York Times. Retrieved

March 20, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/24/technology/24GOOG.html !  Lardinois, F. (2012, July 30). YC-Backed NewsBlur Takes Feed Reading Back To Its Basics. Tech Crunch. Retrieved

March 15, 2015, from http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/30/yc-backed-newsblur-takes-feed-reading-back-to-its-basics/ !  LiCalzi O'Connell, P. (2001, January 29). New Economy; Yahoo charts the spread of the news by e-mail, and what it

finds out is itself becoming news. The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/29/business/new-economy-yahoo-charts-spread-e-mail-what-it-finds-itself-becoming.html

!  NewsBlur. Retrieved March 23, 2015, from http://www.newsblur.com/ !  Perez, S. (2014, October 2). Personalized News-Reading App Pipes Now Smartly Summarizes Articles, Without The

Help Of Editors. Tech Crunch. Retrieved March 23, 2015, from http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/02/personalized-news-reading-app-pipes-now-smartly-summarizes-articles-without-the-help-of-editors/

!  Rowse, D. (2007, February 14). 11 Ways to Find New RSS Subscribers for Your Blog. ProBlogger. Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/02/14/11-ways-to-find-new-rss-subscribers-for-your-blog/

T H A N K Y O U !

Questions or Comments