In an analysis of longform stories and their readers, Columbia Journalism Review found that 94 percent of longform readers finish the pieces they start reading, a significant diversion from the conventional wisdom that readers online are interested in shorter content. The analysis also found that readers are more likely to read a longform piece if […]

Garett Sloane reports that Verizon has been telling advertisers that they will no longer have access to its interest- and location-based data about its users. With that data, Verizon can track users’ locations, family demographics, online habits, favorite apps, and other information. Sloane writes that by cutting off advertiser access to its data, Verizon is […]

Researchers from Telefónica Research in Spain have developed a machine-learning model that can recognize when a user is bored and then push content to those users. In their testing, the researchers found “participants were significantly more likely to open and engage with suggested content on their mobile phones when our algorithms predicted them to be […]

Many publishers see recent moves by Facebook as an attempt to steal traffic from their sites, but Time Out London is embracing Facebook as an opportunity to collect better data on its readers. Time Out’s campaign marketing manager Fearne Atkinson says the goal of its work with Facebook is to get people more involved with […]

Google’s head of creative in New York Rudi Anggono says that “declared data,” or the things you do publicly, mined from social media is meaningless. The things we do publicly on social media are easily influenced by other factors and missing the context behind our decisions, Anggono writes. For better social media data, Anggono says […]

To better inform the creative strategy for its branded content studio Invention, Trinity Mirror conducted a research project called Modal Britain to establish what set Trinity Mirror’s readership apart. The project identified three characteristics unique to its readers: “their beliefs (a premium on social justice), betterment (their own personal achievable goals) and belonging (their sense […]

Roy Price, chief of Amazon Studios, says that while data is helpful, it’s also easy to misuse or overuse data. The data might tell you that Breaking Bad and Downton Abbey were both incredibly popular, but Price says that doesn’t mean that the two shows should be combined. Price says: “It’s definitely possible to over […]

Publishers are beginning to take advantage of user-experience research to figure out how to best connect with the people who are reading their content, shifting the thinking from institution to the consumers. ProPublica puts out a call on social media and uses videoconferencing to talk to users and ask questions about a product, an inexpensive […]

Earlier this week, the 37 million users of affair-themed dating website Ashley Madison learned their information had been compromised, including users’ full names and addresses, even after a user had paid to delete their account. Russell Brandom says Ashley Madison isn’t the only online company retaining too much information on its users, and it didn’t […]

To drive subscriptions, The New York Times is using a startup KeyWee, which uses natural language analysis to find keywords in articles that are likely to be relevant to potential NYT subscribers and then buying sponsored Facebook posts targeted with those keywords. Once those readers are on the site, NYT targets them with articles designed […]