Tuesday, 01, Jun 2010 02:29
Facebook could be of more importance to the success or failure of newspapers' online ambitions than Google News, it has been suggested.
According to the Guardian, while some publishers have been quick to criticise Google's news aggregator for encouraging web users to explore a wide range of online news sources, it is possible that Facebook may have a greater effect on these sites' fortunes.
It cites figures from Experian Hitwise showing that Facebook generates ten times more traffic to online news sites than Google News in the UK.
Commenting on this, Paul Bradshaw, a reader in online journalism at Birmingham City University, said that social media traffic is often overlooked and it could take years for newspaper executives to realise its importance.
"SEO [search engine optimisation] is still only now entering mainstream journalistic processes and systems and it will take another five years before social media optimisation is also part of the furniture," he stated.
This month sees the Times begin charging users for access to its online content on both the main newspaper site and the portal for the Sunday version of the publication.
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