Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

Tuesday 3 OcTOber 2017 TECHNOLOGY
A24
Google spikes free-article requirements on publishers

By TALI ARBEL on the social network.
AP Technology Writer News outlets have be-
NEW YORK (AP) — Google come more aggressive at
is ending a decade-old challenging the Silicon Val-
policy that required pub- ley giants. In July, news out-
lishers to provide some free lets sought permission from
stories to Google users — Congress for the right to ne-
though it’s not clear how gotiate jointly with Google
many readers will even and Facebook, given the
notice, at least for the mo- duo’s dominance in on-
ment. line advertising and online
Publishers had been re- news traffic.
quired to provide at least In a statement Monday,
three free stories a day News Corp. CEO Robert
under the search engine’s Thomson said Google’s
previous policy, called “first change would be good for
click free.” Now they have journalism if “properly intro-
the power to choose how duced.”
many free articles they In months of testing with
want to offer readers via Google, reducing those
Google before charging free clicks from three to
a fee, Richard Gingras, zero “generally improved”
vice president of news at This Tuesday, July 19, 2016, file photo shows the Google logo at the company’s headquarters in subscription rates, the New
Mountain View, Calif.
Google Inc., wrote Mon- Associated Press York Times’ Wilson said. But
day in a company blog he added the Times con-
post . ers’ attempts to bolster Jason Kint, the head of the newspaper publishers. tinues to assess whether to
The goal is to help publish- their paid-subscriber base. Digital Content Next media Print-ad revenue continues actually reduce the num-
ers build up digital subscrip- News Corp.’s Wall Street trade group, said he ex- to shrink, and Facebook ber of free clicks now that
tions, an imperative for Journal had turned off “first pects Google’s change will and Google are gobbling it can. He said it was “not
many media outlets that click free” for its four main lead to news sites enabling up most digital ad revenue. simply a mechanical deci-
pay large sums for news sections in January. It then more subscription models, Research firm eMarketer sion” because the Times’
production but are starved lost half its Google traffic making it harder down the says the two companies mission was in part to make
for advertising revenue. to articles, said spokes- road for web users to gorge will take in 63 percent of sure its news was available
Google’s previous ap- man Steve Severinghaus. themselves on stories from U.S. digital ad dollars this to a wide audience and to
proach had let readers skirt Google would demote a a particular outlet without year. set the news agenda.
paywall policies by typing publisher’s content if they paying for it. Facebook, too, is working Google says it made the
a headline into Google didn’t use first click free, but TURNING TO SUBSCRIPTIONS on a way for news articles changes after feedback
and getting access to now says that won’t hap- Subscription revenue is in- to charge readers for ar- from and experiments with
a story without having it pen anymore. creasingly important for ticles they share and read publishers. q
free article limit, said Kinsey Roku cuts price on top streaming player to coun-
count against a monthly

Wilson, an adviser to New
York Times Co. CEO Mark ter Apple TV
Thompson.
IMPACT ON READERS By MICHAEL LIEDTKE doubled from its IPO price video store or Apple’s mu- viding on-screen answers
Many online readers may AP Technology Writer of $14. sic subscription service. to many questions. It also
not notice a change over- SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — ROKU VS. APPLE Apple is counting on those sells for almost $180.
night unless they visit a par- Emboldened by a suc- Even with that strong start services to justify its higher Apple’s digital assistant,
ticular site several times a cessful IPO, Roku is reduc- on Wall Street, Roku still priced Apple TV for the Siri, can be used to control
month without subscribing. ing the price on the next only has a market value of tens of millions of consum- its streaming player while
And not every publication generation of its best video $2.5 billion, making it a rela- ers hooked on its iPhones, Amazon’s assistant, Alexa,
blocks users from read- streaming player in an at- tive David battling two Go- iPads and Mac computers. works with Fire TV.
ing stories with a paywall. tempt to fend off competi- liaths in Apple ($800 billion ROKU VS. THE REST Although it is much small-
Newer digital-only outfits tive threats from Apple and market value) and Amazon The Roku Ultra is still more er than its rivals, Roku is
tend not to. Amazon. ($462 billion). Roku also still expensive than the next the leading seller of video
Newspaper companies The latest Roku Ultra player hasn’t turned a profit. generation of Amazon’s streaming players in the U.S.
that do cut off readers announced Monday will But the price cut on the Fire TV streaming player. with a 37 percent share of
tend to do so after a cer- sell for $100. That’s a 23 Roku Ultra could make it Amazon last week an- the market, according to
tain monthly allotment of percent decrease from tougher for Apple to win nounced that the latest the research firm Park As-
free stories. The Times offers the Roku Ultra released last over video streaming fans Fire TV model with 4K video sociates.Amazon has been
10 free articles, for exam- year, a device that had with its just released player will sell for $70, down from gaining ground with a 24
ple; the Boston Globe, two. been selling for $130 until a featuring super-sharp “4K” $100 previously.Meanwhile, percent share, up from 16
Newspaper companies recent clearance sale. video — a step up from computer chip maker Nvid- percent last year. Apple’s
are trying to cope with Roku is also upgrading an standard high definition. ia is trying to make its own share stands at 15 percent,
steep declines in print-ad array of other streaming The new Apple TV player splash with a Shield stream- which also trails Google’s
revenues as advertising devices, priced from $29 costs almost $180, up from ing player that it rolled out Chromecast streaming de-
has moved online. Google to $70, less than week after almost $150 for an earlier two years ago.The next vice at 18 percent.
and social media com- completing an initial public model without 4K. generation of the Shield There’s still ample room for
panies like Facebook and offering of stock that raised The Roku Ultra also plays player comes equipped growth. Park Associates es-
Twitter are powerful drivers $219 million for the Los Ga- 4K video and offers more with Google’s digital assis- timates that two-thirds of
of traffic for publishers. But tos, California, company. In streaming channels than tant to find and navigate U.S. households still don’t
mandated freebie articles vote of confidence, Roku’s Apple TV, but it isn’t com- through video with voice have a video streaming
can complicate publish- stock has already nearly patible with Apple’s own commands while also pro- player.q