Publishers Expanding, Monetizing Their Mobile Publishing Efforts - ABC Study
• Many believe that eReaders and tablets will be the biggest boon to their business. Seventy-three percent said readers are most likely to consume their content on eReaders or tablets, compared to 60 percent of respondents who said the same thing about smartphones.
In Canada, the gap was even wider. Fifty-seven percent said eReaders and tablets had the brightest future compared to just 34 percent for smartphones.
• Publishers in the United States. and Canada are investing in optimized mobile websites. Eighty-one percent of U.S. publishers and 65 percent of Canadian publishers said this was an important part of their strategic plans. Respondents said mobile websites often account for up to 15 percent of their overall website impressions.
• When it comes to developing apps, most publishers are focusing their efforts on Apple products. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they have an iPhone app and 54 percent said they have an iPad app. Of those publishers with apps, 45 percent said they charge for their iPad apps, followed by 35 percent collecting payment for iPhone apps and 34 percent earning revenue from Amazon’s Kindle.
• While most publishers were optimistic about Apple’s new Newsstand offering, many still expressed frustration with the company’s fees and consumer information policies. Just eight percent said they thought Apple’s tactics were favorable to publishers. Forty-two percent said the publishing industry needs to develop an alternative to Apple to be successful in the future.
• Two-thirds of survey respondents said publishers need to focus on two equally important revenue streams—advertising and subscriptions. Publishers believe mobile offers many potentially successful advertising opportunities, including search (67 percent), store locators (65 percent), banner (64 percent), sponsorship (62 percent) and video (62 percent).
• Publishers had mixed feelings about how to best charge consumers for accessing content on multiple platforms. Forty percent said readers should pay one price and receive access to all platforms—print, web, mobile—while another 40 percent said readers should pay more for each additional platform.
