Goals. Vision Statement

Transcription

1 Gals The Newspaper Assciatin f America's Request fr Infrmatin "seeks t gather infrmatin abut the prducts and services available frm qualified prviders with expertise in helping lcal nline publishers additinally mnetize digital cntent, either thrugh transactins (pay fr cntent) and/r thrugh cllectin f user data fr enhanced advertising targeting r ther 'access t cntent prgrams." This dcument identifies Ggle's capabilities in these areas, highlights ur planned and existing tls, lays ut ur visin fr what this ecsystem might lk like, and hpefully pens the dr t mre detailed discussins with the NAA and individual publishers. Visin Statement Ggle believes that an pen web benefits all users and publishers. Hwever, "pen" need nt mean free. We believe that cntent n the Internet can thrive supprted by multiple business mdels -- including cntent available nly via subscriptin. While we believe that advertising will likely remain the main surce f revenue fr mst news cntent, a paid mdel can serve as an imprtant surce f additinal revenue. In additin, a successful paid cntent mdel can enhance advertising pprtunities, rather than replace them. When it cmes t a paid cntent mdel, there are tw main challenges. First, the cntent must ffer value t users. Only cntent creatrs can address this. The secnd is t create a simple payment mdel that is painless fr users. Ggle has experience nt nly with ur e-cmmerce prducts; we have successfully built cnsumer prducts used by millins arund the wrld. We can use this expertise t help create a successful e-cmmerce platfrm fr publishers. Beynd the mechanics f any payment system, users must knw the prduct exists. Discvery and distributin are just as, if nt mre, imprtant t premium cntent as they are t free cntent given the smaller audience f ptential subscribers. Ggle is uniquely psitined t help publishers create a scalable e-cmmerce system via ur Checkut prduct and als enable users t find this cntent via search -- even if it's behind a paywall. Our visin f a premium cntent ecsystem includes the fllwing features: Single sign-n capability fr users t access cntent and manage subscriptins Ability fr publishers t cmbine subscriptins frm different titles tgether fr ne price Ability fr publishers t create multiple payment ptins and easily include/exclude cntent behind a paywall Multiple tiers f access t search including 1) snippets nly with "subscriptin" label, 2) access t preview pages and 3) "first click free" access Advertising systems that ffer highly relevant ads fr users, such as interest-based advertising Ggle already wrks with a number f premium cntent prviders in a manner similar t the visin abve. Cmbining ur e-cmmerce system with ur search capability and advertising platfrm will allw fr even mre flexibility fr publishers and users alike.

2 Cmpany Prfile Ggle's innvative search technlgies cnnect millins f peple arund the wrld with infrmatin every day. Funded in 1998 by Stanfrd Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Ggle tday is a tp web prperty in all majr glbal markets. Ggle's advertising prgrams prvide businesses f all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the verall web experience fr users. Ggle is headquartered in Silicn Valley with ffices thrughut the Americas, Eurpe and Asia. Fr mre infrmatin, visit In 2008, Ggle had revenue f $21.8 billin primarily thrugh advertising. Prduct Descriptin and Capabilities Paying fr Digital Gds: Ggle Checkut Descriptin: Ggle Checkut is a fast, secure checkut prcess that allws cnsumers t buy frm merchants and publishers quickly and easily with a single lgin at thusands f stres acrss the web. With Ggle Checkut, the cnsumer stres her payment infrmatin in a Ggle Accunt and secures it with a username and passwrd. This dramatically reduces the time it takes fr cnsumers t buy digital and physical gds with Checkut-enabled merchants and allws the cnsumer t keep her infrmatin in ne secure lcatin, rather than multiple accunts acrss the internet. Checkut has an internatinal ftprint. Tday, tens f millins f buyers in mre than 140 cuntries and mre than a half-millin merchants in the U.S. and U.K. have signed up fr Checkut. In ttal, billins f dllars in purchases have been made thrugh the service. In additin, with ur advanced fraud detectin systems, Checkut merchants experience fraud lsses 7 times lwer than industry averages as reprted by Cybersurce. Status: Currently in prductin Key mnetizatin methds fr cntent: Subscriptin billing - Thrugh Checkut, merchants are able t set up recurring billing, i.e., subscriptins. Fr example, a publisher culd charge users every mnth they maintain a subscriptin and cancel it any time when the subscriptin ends. This culd be dne fr any buyer that has a Ggle Checkut accunt. This feature is available nw thrugh Ggle Checkut. Ggle uses these same facilities in rder t charge custmers fr Ggle Apps. Managing subscriptins frm the merchant side is fairly rudimentary right nw but culd be imprved t be mre relevant fr news and media cmpanies. Micrpayments - While currently in the early planning stages, micrpayments will be a payment vehicle available t bth Ggle and nn-ggle prperties within the next year. The idea is t allw viable payments f a penny t several dllars by aggregating purchases acrss merchants and ver time. Ggle will mitigate the risk f nn-payment by assigning credit limits based n past purchasing behavir and having credit card instruments n file fr thse with higher credit limits and using ur prprietary risk engines t track abuse r fraud. Merchant integratin will be extremely simple.

3 Key Checkut Features (Currently LIVE): Merchant Center- Web applicatin that allws merchants t manage their rders, slve disputes, etc. Merchant API - XML integratin fr deeper integratins with Checkut Buyer Center - Web applicatin that allws buyers t view their purchase histry and manage purchases and their persnal infrmatin Credit Cards and Debit Cards - We accept Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Discver, and debit cards Single Sign On - Single place fr user purchasing infrmatin acrss all Checkut sites Buyer Currencies - Supprt fr mst currencies fr buyers Seller Currencies - Supprt fr merchants in the U.K. and U.S. with mre cuntries planned Risk Engine - Prprietary risk engine that detects fraudulent behavir Supprt - Ggle Checkut emplys multiple supprt teams that supprt develpers, mnitr fraud and supprt buyers when prblems with their purchases ccur Planned Radmap: Simplified Merchant Integratin - Dramatically increase the speed by which merchants integrate with Ggle Checkut. Target early 2010 Guest Checkut - Allw users t buy gds with Checkut-enabled merchants withut creating an accunt. Target Q Stred Value - Gift cards and maintaining a balance fr buyers n Ggle Checkut. Planned fr future Micrpayments - Aggregatin f small payments by buyers fr purchasing digital cntent. Planned fr future Key statistics: Tens f millins f registered Checkut users Several hundred thusand registered merchants, high number f sellers selling digital gds $ Billins f rders prcessed Advertising: In additin t revenue frm any subscriptins, Ggle is able t prvide a cmplete advertising slutin thrugh ur DubleClick ad-serving platfrm, ur advertising netwrks, data feeds, and scalable infrastructure t deliver relevant ads t users. Our platfrm allws fr ads t be sld directly by publishers, sld as part f the Ggle Cntent Netwrk, r sld via multiple ad netwrks thrugh ur ad exchange. We believe the increased advertising pprtunities will likely exceed ttal revenue frm subscriptins. These prducts are all currently live and used by thusands f publishers tday and include: AdSense fr Cntent and Search: Search - Our leading search technlgy prvides grwing pprtunity t better mnetize search queries. Cntextual - Our prven mdel f shwing relevant advertising t users can increase the yield fr the advertising fr all page views.

4 Display - Our platfrm can effectively deliver multiple ad frmats including: vide ads, gadget ads and all display frmats. Optimizatin - We can analyze current yield frm news cntent and wrk with Ggle Analytics t imprve n ptimizatin fr this cntent. Interest-based advertising - In additin t allwing publishers t participate in ur existing netwrk, we can wrk with partners t allw them sell int IBA fr their wn effrts. AdExchange: All partners can participate in ur Advertising Exchange t ffer inventry up t bidding frm multiple ad netwrks t increase sell thrugh. We can analyze existing revenue fr any partners t evaluate risk t current revenue frm remnant ad sales. Our tls and quality assurance team can help identify unwanted advertisers that can be blcked frm running n yur sites. Platfrm - A full suite f advertising prducts: Dart fr Publishers - Cre ad serving platfrm that will allw Ggle t bring mre value t publishers. Ad Exchange - Increase sell thrugh and manage yur unsld inventry mre effectively. Rich Media and Vide - Increase the design and distributin f yur display inventry. Search: Ggle's missin is t rganize the wrld's infrmatin and make it universally accessible and useful. This applies t all infrmatin -- paid and free. Ggle Search currently supprts discvery f a variety f paid cntent, frm bks t schlarly material t newspaper archives t premium newspaper cntent such as that frm the Wall Street Jurnal and the Financial Times. Ggle wrks with publishers t supprt discvery f premium cntent in a number f ways tday: Publishers can prvide a preview r landing page fr Ggle t crawl, cnsistent with what end-users see. This is available t users f Ggle Search and News. Publishers can allw Ggle's crawlers full access t their premium cntent, but maintain a paywall r preview mde fr users. This cntent is marked as "subscriptin" in Ggle News. Publishers can prvide free access t the first full article via ur "First Click Free" prgram, which treats premium cntent as "free" in Ggle News and Search, but requires payment nce users navigate away frm the first article. Cntent Management & Syndicatin: Ggle News currently crawls cntent frm mre than 25,000 surces wrldwide. Increasingly, a large number f publishers cntribute additinal infrmatin abut their cntent via Ggle News Sitemaps. Sitemaps use standard frmats, which are well-defined by Ggle and ther search engines. Future enhancements culd allw fr publishers t easily tag individual articles with different levels f access and/r pricing, as well as additinal infrmatin abut the cntent, such as identifying surce material. In additin, Ggle News hsts cntent frm several different news agencies in multiple languages. Similar hsting services can be prvided t any interested publishers, cmplete with advertising slutins.

5 Syndicatin thrugh affiliate netwrks may be anther ptin fr distributin and mnetizatin f premium cntent. This mechanism has prven t be successful in the verall e-cmmerce system and may als be successful in the cntext f premium cntent. News publishers can decide t package their cntent (r a rich preview theref) with apprpriate branding and advertising units and encurage third parties (e.g., ther newspapers) t hst the syndicated cntent package, expsing it t a brader audience. Publishers wuld derive revenue frm advertisements embedded in the syndicated package, as well as traffic frm the embedded links back t the publisher. In the case f premium cntent, the syndicated cntent wuld nly cntain a free preview, and wuld embed mnetizatin units fr micrpayment and subscriptin. In additin t prviding e-cmmerce and advertising platfrms t supprt publishers' cntent, Ggle can prvide the technlgy fr cnvenient syndicatin and embedded hsting f the cntent-mnetizatin cmpnents n third party sites. Specific NAA Questins: The NAA's RFI asked us t address a number f questins abut ur technical capabilities in specific areas. Belw, we respnd t each f the questins: NAA Questin: Accept r retrieve cntent frm participating newspapers/media cmpanies Ggle: Yes, via crawl, news sitemaps r hsting f cntent. NAA Questin: Ability t manage single sign-n that allws cnsumers t navigate acrss participating media cmpany Web sites Ggle: Yes, via Ggle's integrated accunt access NAA Questin: Prcess cntent in industry standard frmats fr news (NITF, NewsML2) Ggle: Any hsted cntent can be delivered via NewsML r similar frmats. Nn-hsted cntent can be delivered via sitemaps r ther methds. NAA Questin: Track prper surce f riginal cntent Ggle: Publishers can identify surces via sitemaps. NAA Questin: Manage and prtect intellectual prperty rights f cntent Ggle: Ggle has mechanisms in place that enable rights hlders t reprt cpyright vilatins and fr Ggle t respnd quickly t any such DMCA ntices. NAA Questin: Prvide effective and efficient brwser based user interface Ggle: Yes. NAA Questin: Prvide apprpriate database technlgy fr cntent management Ggle: Yes, detailed infrmatin and meta data abut cntent can be accessed via Ggle News.

6 NAA Questin: Manage a variety f transactinal capabilities (e.g. micrpayments, subscriptins, etc.) based n a range f criteria (e.g. existing subscriber r member, number f pages viewed r stries accessed previusly, etc.) Ggle: Yes, via Ggle Checkut. NAA Questin: Cmmunicate with banks using standard frmats (please include capabilities t accept credit card infrmatin, prcess transactins, recncile payments, etc.) Ggle: Yes, via Ggle Checkut. NAA Questin: Prvide PCI cmpliant custmer infrmatin prtectin Ggle: Yes, via Ggle Checkut. NAA Questin: Prvide an infrmatin barter envirnment with apprpriate privacy and ther prtectins (i.e. access t cntent in exchange fr mre detailed user inf) Ggle: Yes, but we wuld nly ffer such slutins prvided full privacy cntrls are in place and available t all users. Ggle takes privacy seriusly in all ur prducts and businesses. NAA Questin: Prvide simple custmer registratin/lgn prcess Ggle: Yes, via Ggle's integrated accunt access and Checkut. NAA Questin: Tie a custmer and their infrmatin t a particular newspaper (e.g., their hme paper) Ggle: Yes, user preferences can be stred via a single sign-n system. Several Ggle prperties already ffer this feature with full privacy cntrls that are easily accessible t all users. NAA Questin: Prvide references t relevant cntent frm participating newspapers Ggle: Yes, via the Ggle News API and Ggle Elements. NAA Questin: Prvide design with advertising psitins Ggle: Yes, fr all hsted cntent. NAA Questin: Include AdsML based e-cmmerce Ggle: Yes, via Ggle Cntent Netwrk. Ptential Slutins Ggle's best thinking abut a mdel that wrks fr bth users and publishers includes:

7 Easy Subscriptin Sign-up and Management fr Users Plus Cntent Packaging and Multiple Payment Frms fr Publishers Single sign-n capability s users can use ne lgin fr access t premium cntent and a central place t manage subscriptins and payments. We envisin the typical scenari t be where a user pays a mnthly fee fr access t a wide-ranging package f premium cntent. One example f a "package" might be full access t the WSJ; anther "package" might include the tp 10 business publicatins. Ggle believes that there is real pwer and benefit t publishers in prviding these srts f brad, multi-publicatin access passes. Fr multi-publicatin packages, publishers will receive a revenue disbursement that is prprtinal t the usage f their cntent in the package. While prviding an ptin fr micrpayments will be imprtant, we d nt believe it will be the nrm fr accessing cntent. Example 1: A user has access t the "basic" premium cntent package. She hears abut the latest Sarah Palin article in Vanity Fair, which is nt part f her package. She can make a ne-ff payment f $0.10 t read that article, which will shw up n her bill as part f the mnthly payment. Example 2: A user sets aside an amunt each mnth fr micrpayments similar t the EZ-Pass mdel and is charged each time that pl is emptied. Discverability f All Cntent with Varius Access Mdels Any successful premium mdel will likely include sme cmbinatin f free cntent. There will be sme set f news cntent that is inapprpriate fr putting behind a pay wall. Fr example, basic reprting n the news f the mment that is cvered by multiple surces. Users are unlikely t pay fr access t this type f cntent, given that it is highly likely t be available smewhere nline fr free. The type f cntent mst suitable fr a premium/pay subscriptin service will likely include deeply researched pieces, exclusive interviews, pinin pieces, enterprise jurnalism, and mre. It is critical that all cntent be indexed and accessible via search engines -- bth free cntent as well as any cntent behind the pay wall. If users cannt find this cntent via search, it will ultimately get far less viewership/readership. There are a number f ways t ensure discverability: Search engines shuld knw what cntent a user has access t, and assuming the user has access rights, the full cntent shuld be available and expsed within 1 click frm the search results page. Assuming a user des nt have an existing subscriptin, users shuld have access t a preview f the cntent (enugh t determine that this is the article they are seeking), and will be ntified n the search results page that this cntent is available nly by subscriptin r a 1-time payment f $X.XX. Premium/paid cntent culd be included in the default list f search results, r presented in a separate paid-nly area. Publishers shuld als be able t take advantage f "first-click-free" viewership in rder t be expsed in the standard manner in web search results. This wuld allw users free access t a single piece f premium cntent befre requiring a payment. It is an pen questin hw and whether t allw fr a system that caps access given the risk f "claking" cntent. Increased Advertising Revenues A premium cntent mdel shuld nt be viewed as either a replacement r even a separate supplement t advertising revenue. Instead, we believe that a

8 successful premium mdel needs t enhance advertising pprtunities. We believe this is pssible, including thrugh sme existing Ggle advertising platfrms: Relevant ads acrss the Ggle Cntent Netwrk via ur interest-based advertising feature. Enhanced ads serving acrss premium sites, i.e., a Premium Cntent Netwrk Advertising based n vluntary data frm individual registratin infrmatin n individual sites. All f the systems abve shuld have transparent and easy-t-use privacy cntrls fr users. Brad Distributin f Cntent via Syndicatin Cntrlled by Publishers T extend the reach f any cntent -- free r paid -- publishers shuld als have ptins t easily package their cntent fr display by third party sites (e.g., ther newspapers). Publishers wuld be able t take advantage f this brader audience via advertisements embedded with their cntent, micrpayment ptins fr the syndicated cntent, and traffic back t the publisher. Business Mdel Sftware and supprt services are typically prvided at n charge. Ggle will be happy t hst cntent and supply the bandwidth necessary t serve cntent. There may be a charge fr additinal prfessinal services, depending n the extent f the supprt necessary and the vlume f views anticipated. Current mdels n revenue sharing fr the selling f cntent typically invlve a percentage f each sale t Ggle in rder t cver maintenance, bandwidth, prcessing charges, and prfit margin. The Andrid Marketplace is the mst prminent example f this mdel. The revenue split is cmparable t Apple's mdels n itunes and AppStre and cnsnant with experiments being currently cnducted n YuTube.