Monday, November 18, 2019

Google News Initiative, Lee, TownNews partner on dynamic paywall


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.”
Testing on the program is set to start in December.
News and Tech

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