The News According To Google How Does Algorithmic Infomediation

Frame the Work of French Journalists ?

Nikos Smyrnaios, University of Toulouse Guillaume Sire, University of Paris 2

JSS-ECREA Conference, Thessaloniki, March 27-29 2014.

Research question & methodWhat does Google do to journalism ?

More than 50 interviews with French journalists, SEO specialists in news organizations & Google employees

Analysis of 252 online news items of 6 news websites

Study of patents related to Google News

Longtime observation of of the relationship between French news websites publishers and Google (2003-

2013)

News infomediation ?“Connecting information supply with information

demand and helping both parties involved determine the value of that information” (Hagel III, Rayport, 1997,

p. 9). Infomediaries operate a mix of aggregation & distribution of 3rd party content

Based on algorithms and social interactions, financed by ads and/or commissions

Google but also Facebook, Twitter, Apple, ISPs etc.

Coopetition = simultaneous cooperation & competition between publishers & infomediaries

Mutual dependency: Google needs publishers for the content, publishers need Google for the traffic

But the balance of power largely in favour of Google.

Competition for online advertising revenue and symbolic antagonism: who’s rules follow the news ?

In France: 2003-2008 conflicting period

2013 Google agrees to pay €60M over 3 years

In the meantime publishers “enslave themselves to Google”

Newsworthiness for Google

Ranking in Google newsFor news sites: productivity, reactivity, popularity, completeness

For news topics: cluster size, novelty, sources

For news items: novelty, originality, click-through rate, mentions in social media, sources

2 traffic sources: Google for archives Google News for hot

news

Journalistic practicesProliferation of “Keyword:…” style headlines (Google loves them) e.g.

2 headlines (rarely used) : 1 for Google, 1 for readers

Shovelware: re-writing of press agency and PR material (time consuming, low value for journalists)

Use of Google Insights to know most searched subjects

Use of analytics to appreciate audience performance

These are mandatory practices that depend on the context. But they are on the rise

SEO for newsInsourcing : SEO specialists inside all main French

publishers’ online newsrooms

Internal position: close to management, better paid than journalists, no hierarchical power over journalists

but “technical” influence (through management)

External position : represent publishers towards Google

- use of Sitemaps, meta-tags, microdata- articles behind a paywall become free access via

Google, - massive use of internal links, - influence on publishing timing - Keyword centered landing pages- Re-publishing with changing headlines

Business strategiesLe Conjugueur : top news websites intensely use

(hidden) links towards their own dictionaries

Publishers can be tempted to sell outgoing links with high PageRank

In France not yet

In the US & the UK it is already a market

Business strategiesPublishers’ business strategies towards Google as a compromise: revenue /dependency/deontology

Does Google privilege his advertising partners ?

G

Market share on Google News’ Top Stories (February

2014)

Google Ads

Organic reach on Facebook diminishes drastically

Facebook pushes paid reach

Launch of Public Content Solutions (PCS) dedicated to

media partners

Apple imposes draconian Terms &

Conditions

Gets 30% commission

Newsstand dedicated to publishers

ConclusionsOnline media are highly dependent on

infomediaries

Google is still the most important one for publishers

SEO specialists are mediators between journalists, marketers, managers & Google

There is an important impact of SEO on journalism (practices, work routines, editorial

choices)

Nevertheless this impact depends on the context (journalists capacity of negotiation, business

models, professional ethics)