Today (and for the past 4-5 years) it’s been the case that any major tech news item’s Google page is dominated by blogs like Engadget and Gizmodo.
It’s really hard to understate how important this is. These are multimillion dollar businesses on their own right, and half of their traffic comes from pages like this. Newspapers will probably never figure this out, so in the meantime, their authority is going to be continually taken from underneath them by awesome sites like Engadget and its rivals.
Give people what they want, and they’ll take it.
Randall | 17-Feb-09 at 9:11 am | Permalink
I think it’s more like a combination of good SEO, which mainstream pubs don’t really have, and also niche pubs get linked to more quickly.
Newspaper readers aren’t really searching for “HTC Magic,” they’re the mainstream people who don’t really care about anything niche. I think that’s the real difference is a fragmentation of the market, and mainstream readers getting splintered off as soon as they’re no longer mainstream.
admin | 17-Feb-09 at 11:58 am | Permalink
Good point. It’s definitely a case of specific vs. broad. That’s the reason why newspapers don’t get front page on Google. They’re too broad.
However, I think the writing is on the wall here that newspapers need to start pushing into niches far more than they are currently.
It just makes me frustrated that with all the stories of layoffs and the impending doom of journalism, that newspapers aren’t being more adventurous with the internet and specific opportunities like this! If the current (big, top down brands) isn’t sustainable, why haven’t they started experimenting with new ones?
Ian | 18-Feb-09 at 10:47 am | Permalink
It’s a good example. Why don’t they change? Because they’re probably restricted by ancient rules and guides, bureaucracy or simply fear of change. They’re big lumbering old fashioned companies and like the American motor companies, or Zavvi stores, they are destined to die a slow horrible death.