Almost half of Google News readers don’t visit originating news sites
Complaints by media proprietors like Rupert Murdoch that Google News is “stealing” their content has always been countered by the argument that Google and other news aggregators actually direct web traffic back to orignating news sites. However, a survey of news consumers by Outsell Inc. found 44 per cent of Google News visitors scan headlines without ever clicking through to read more. Here’s the conundrum: The same survey predicted “a rude awakening” for news organizations that try to protect their content behind paywalls because so many respondents rejected the idea of paying to access news.
Complaints by media proprietors like Rupert Murdoch that Google News is “stealing” their content has always been countered by the argument that Google and other news aggregators actually direct web traffic back to orignating news sites. However, a survey of news consumers by Outsell Inc. found 44 per cent of Google News visitors scan headlines without ever clicking through to read more. Here’s the conundrum: The same survey predicted “a rude awakening” for news organizations that try to protect their content behind paywalls because so many respondents rejected the idea of paying to access news.
