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Is Google biased against the Daily Mail/Mail Online? What the experts say
We discussed this in the news round-up of this week’s episode, so this is a timely piece with input from SEO experts. Search visibility for The Guardian and the BBC are significantly better than those of more right-wing publishers Mail, Telegraph and Sun. But that doesn’t mean Google is politically biased.
The search giant draws together hundreds of markers to determine which results are shown, from quality of writing, expertise of sources and the searcher’s location and settings. As well as a better page experience, it looks like publishers which rank higher are seen as more authoritative.
More transparency would perhaps calm the conspiracy theorists, but there’s a limit to what Google can realistically reveal about its inner workings. If you still aren’t convinced, Press Gazette cites a number of independent studies that have been done showing that political bias isn’t a problem Google suffers from.
What The Economist’s move into education can teach other publishers
Education may not be an obvious segue for a news publisher. But when you look more closely, it can actually be an incredibly powerful way to leverage the expertise of journalists to create something valuable for your audience (and bottom line). The Economist’s Executive Education pillar is just over a year old now, and following the launch of a new fintech course, I spoke to them about what they’ve learned and how it works alongside the publication.
Arron Banks loses Russia libel case against Carole Cadwalladr
The fact that an investigative journalist has to spend three years and crowdfund her legal defence on a case like this is an indication of how urgently the libel laws in this country need to change. A welcome ruling on a case that shouldn’t have got this far or gone on this long.
Defector is getting a subscriber boost from its podcast Normal Gossip
The sports and culture website earns 95% of its revenue from subscriptions. When Normal Gossip launched paid subscriptions last month, the podcast gave Defector its biggest one-week increase in more than a year. There’s also evidence the podcast is helping Defector reach new audiences; while 75% of Defector subscribers are men, 65% of Normal Gossip subscribers are women and roughly half are under the age of 34.
This content originally appeared in The Media Roundup, a daily newsletter from Media Voices. Subscribe here:
