We believe that the best Web content optimization strategy is something as old as journalism itself: the shocking truth and the authentic opinion.
Nick DentonWeb media needs to move to TV metaphor - with full-screen imagery and other content interrupted with full-screen ads.
Nick DentonPublishing should be a collaboration between authors and their smartest readers - and at some point the distinction should become meaningless.
Nick DentonI think people are sort of waking up to it now, how probably the biggest change in Internet media isn't the immediacy of it, or the low costs, but the measurability. Which is actually terrifying if you're a traditional journalist, and used to pushing what people ought to like, or what you think they ought to like.
Nick DentonGoogle and others truncate headlines at 70 characters. On the Manti Teo story, Deadspin's scoop fell down the Google search results, overtaken by copycat stories with simpler headlines. Deadspin's headline was 118 characters. Vital information - 'hoax' - was one of the words that was cut off.
Nick DentonCritics say Internet advertising suffers from limitless inventory, which depresses prices. These exclusive front-page sponsorships are not limitless. If HBO doesn't move quickly enough, Showtime can buy out Gawker and Jezebel for the key fall TV season. On any individual day, there isn't room for both of them; and that's healthy.
Nick Denton