Instagram Stories, Flipboard Vertical Video Ads, Tronc Revenue Guidance, Business Insider Consolidation, InDesign CC Tip: Sort Swatches

Welcome to Technology for Publishing’s roundup of news and tips for media industry pros! This week, we’re sharing stories about Instagram’s Snapchat-like Stories feature, the launch of Flipboard’s new vertical video ad unit, Tronc’s show of confidence with revised revenue guidance, Business Insider’s decision to fold its tech stand-alone back into its main newsroom, and more.

Stories photo

  • Taking aim at Snapchat, Facebook-owned Instagram announced a new Stories feature that lets users post content that disappears in 24 hours. News outlets like Fortune and Mashable called the release a copy-cat move—right down to its name—intended to tap into the messaging platform’s younger market, which clearly values the freedom to privately share photos and video messages without the pressure of a wider audience liking their posts. As noted in the reports, Snapchat is now an estimated $19 billion company with 150 million users—and, even though it has a larger user base, Instagram wants a piece of that action. On the other hand, Fortune pointed out, advertising continues to be a challenge for Snapchat, given messages disappear and its demographic is relatively narrow, meaning the app in some ways will have to become more like Instagram if it wants to be profitable.
  • Vertical video—a trend Adweek referred to as the Snapchat Effect—is taking hold industrywide, with Flipboard being the latest to test it out. The mobile publishing app announced it’s launching a new vertical video ad unit with movie distributor Bleeker Street as its first buyer. “More and more video production is being filmed and edited for vertical viewing on mobile phones,” Flipboard ad exec Nicole McCormack said in the report. “This optimized mobile video production allows for easier viewing and higher engagement with mobile viewers.” According to Adweek, the unit will be integrated with the company’s Cinema Loop package, which offers 3- to 10-second mobile ads that loop like GIFs. Flipboard said while horizontal versions of those ads see high rates of completion and engagement, the verticals are expected to do even better.
  • The New York Times reported Tronc, formerly Tribune Publishing, raised its full-year revenue guidance to between $1.61 billion and $1.63 billion, even though revenue was down 2% in Q2 compared with the same period last year and ad revenue was off 4%. With a takeover bid by Gannett still looming, the move is intended to project confidence as the publisher of newspapers including The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune tries to reinvent itself under the leadership of newly installed chairman Michael Ferro Jr., who took a $44 million stake in the company in February, the report said. Part of that process, it added, are new approaches to reporting, involving artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as more focus on video. “We are confident that we have the right strategy in place and are taking the necessary steps to transform our business,” said Tronc CEO Justin Dearborn. Also check out Ken Doctor‘s take on the numbers and Gannett’s bid.
  • Pulling back on a year-old diversification strategy, Business Insider announced it’s bringing one of its spinoffs, Tech Insider, back into its main newsroom operations. The Wall Street Journal said Insider, a lifestyle video-focused brand launched in the same time frame, will continue as a stand-alone. It added that this is “the first major hiccup” post-acquisition by German publisher Axel Springer, which paid $343 million for an 88% stake in the company as part of its ongoing U.S. expansion. Explaining the move, BI founder and CEO Henry Blodget said, “The continuum between business and tech has become so smooth, in fact, that we ourselves have often had trouble figuring out who should cover what. So we believe we can serve our audience better by creating a single turbocharged editorial team.”

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Photo: Mashable

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Posted by: Monica Sambataro

Monica Sambataro
Monica Sambataro is a contributing editor and copyeditor for Technology for Publishing. Her publishing background includes work for leading technology- and business-related magazines and websites.
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