Earlier in the summer, I, along with other digital magazine publishers across the UK magazine industry, was invited to attend a presentation at Google HQ about their digital Newsstand, and forthcoming plans for it.
I love going to Google’s London offices. Not just because they are two minutes from Bauer’s HQ on Shaftesbury Avenue. Or because our account manager, Liz, is wonderful, and an Audrey Hepburn lookalike. Somewhat shallowly, I love going because you get free food and drink and are generally very well looked after (don’t tell anyone, but I always pilfer a healthy supply of Curly Wurlys from the communal kitchen when I visit. I feel like a child in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory every time I do so!).
On this occasion, after the usual exhaustive security checks, we were shepherded into a dark presentation room with 100 or so seats lined up in front of stage and screen. Small groups of rival publishers, talking in hushed voices, were dotted around the periphery (I spied Haymarket and Dennis staff instantly) gulping copious amounts of strong coffee between mouthfuls of pristine croissant, keen not to give away their latest digital strategies, but no doubt happy to proffer how well their digital titles were doing, if prompted.
At the appropriate time, we all sat down to listen to what Google had to say. It was, of course, interesting… and somewhat unexpected.
‘Abandon all hope ye who continue in the world of PDF replica magazines!’ was the general theme, along with the revelation that Google would be withdrawing all flat PDF replica versions from Play Newsstand at an unspecified time in the near future. ‘PDF replicas do not work’, we were told. ‘Your audience doesn’t like them.’
The presenter went on to announce that Google was also going to stop supporting ‘RePubs’ (which is where they do the production donkey work for us, transforming a single PDF into a digital edition complete with the ‘text view’ option) and that Play Newsstand was being transformed into a ‘Currents’ type model, where users would be able to subscribe to individual brands, with free RSS content feeds in each brand’s vertical from whatever web source the publisher wants. Within that feed, upsells to the paid digital edition can be made, or indeed adverts placed, increasing (in theory) the potential to monetise.
Smartphone focused
As I listened, I started to consider the ramifications. It was obvious Google’s strategy for the coming years was going to be centred around increased smartphone use and a continuous publishing model – a mix of long-form, paid-for premium magazine content intertwined with short-form, snackable (god I hate that word, it’s up there with ‘phablet’) feeds, laced with interactivity if we wanted, from select web content.
And… well, I can’t disagree with any of that. What bothered me wasn’t the additional – and not inconsiderable – cost that was being imposed on our e-publishing business as a result of us now having to fund the RePubs of PDFs into a spec to suit, nor the blunt way in which we were told we’d got our strategies wrong (even if our longer term strategies are not entirely PDF replica focused). Also, I couldn’t argue with Google’s strategic assertion that smartphone usage is going to shape the future of digital content consumption. They’re right. We were seeing the start of this revolution years ago.
My problem was with them basically forcing us to change tack. Perhaps I am being naïve, but I don’t want to be dictated to as to what I can and can’t do strategically, even if Google is correct in its assertions that PDF replicas are not the longer-term future (let’s face it, they do look pants on a phone, but we don’t need Google, or anyone else, to tell us that).
This isn’t to say I don’t want our titles on Google Play Newsstand. Of course I do. It’s where the Android consumer who may actively search for them, is going to find them. Phone optimised feeds with paid content upsells – it all sounds great, for brands that are currently suited to such a strategy (not all are, yet).
So now I have decisions to make. What titles do we leave on Play Newsstand? Do we move our smaller titles away from Play Newsstand and launch them on the standard Play App Store, selling them – via direct entitlement – primarily through our own platform, Great Magazines? Do I do this with the bigger titles also? Do we do both with some titles? In which case, what do we tell consumers?
With over 1bn activated smart devices globally, Android is an opportunity. Any magazine publisher that cracks paid content on the platform is going to make a lot of money. I’d just like Google to do even more than they currently are, to make their app store, well… better. Bauer sells significantly more digital editions – including PDF replicas – on Apple Newsstand than it does on Google. Our lack of Android sales cannot just be down to us getting our strategies wrong. I want a Play / Play Magazines Store with a better UX and vastly improved search.
I know Google is addressing all this. We could see that in their presentation. And there is an exciting future, I am sure of it. But as long as Play Newsstand continues to not live up to its potential, and if it costs us to put titles on there, then my strategic priorities will be to grow the business elsewhere. On a platform I can control, perhaps.
The presentation came to an end. We all applauded, some questions were asked. As I sat and listened, I wondered if there was any way I could sneak into the kitchen on the way out and nab a few Curly Wurlys…
