Emily Steel explores the latest AOL comeback strategy in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal, writing about how AOL wants to be a content company. This story stood out because it is about embracing journalism rather than trying to figure out how to make it stop losing money.
The pioneer of home Internet access is embracing a third way between advertising and journalism.
Instead of waiting to sell ads until an article or Web video is produced, AOL—which has scores of niche sites, such as beauty and fashion site Stylelist, in addition to its AOL brand—says it plans to offer marketers the chance to work with its editorial team to create custom content.
AOL says that its ad model would allow advertisers to be affiliated with the content but not control what was written or created. Media experts and others say that disclosing when articles or videos have been shaped by advertisers will be crucial to AOL's credibility.
Steel produces a professional, detailed report on the strategy that covers its contradictions and opportunities without overpowering it with her own opinion, as a professional should.
Let me ad that AOL has taken the shortest route to undermining its brand and becoming irrelevant. There is no third way. We all know that advertisers have more influence over news content than they should. I once saw the New York Times cover an art exhibit at JFK Airport to save a weekly one-page ad from a tiny airline. I've been asked about advertising revenue from so many trade magazine editors it doesn't even make an impression. Worth magazine's latest incarnation auctions off its columnist slots.
However, setting off at the beginning to charge for content makes the reporting inauthentic and less valuable to the audience. It won't work and six-12 months from now, I'm sure Steel will give us the details on what went wrong.
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