Innovations in Media: ‘Make us your preferred Google source’

Search-engine optimization has been a challenge for news websites for several decades, ever since Google Page Rank brought the opportunity for more eyeballs to the forefront of web strategy.

In the age of artificial intelligence and Google’s focus on “AI Mode” when prioritizing results, even the smallest of tweaks can pay dividends. 

Several days ago, while visiting Monocle.com, I was presented with this page, encouraging me to add the site to my list of “Preferred Sources” on my Google Pixel 9 phone. I frequently use the Pixel’s “swipe right” feature to pull up a feed of top news and topics of interest based on trends in my search history. 

What’s smart about the strategy

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Innovations in Media: 'Primary' — not 'Objection'

I started out here with plans to highlight a new startup called Objection. But in a world of pivots, before I could start writing, Objection” has transformed itself into a new venture called Primary. Regardless, both ventures are worth exploring. 

The June 2021 Hollywood Reporter article that spawned a complaint via the Objection website.Let’s start with Objection.ai, which I first learned of from a June 10 article in The Hollywood Reporter. That article — headlined “An Online Tribunal Funded by Peter Thiel is Putting Journalists on Trial. “I’m Case No. 1” — certainly caught my eye. The article is well worth reading, but here’s the gist: 

Anyone who is the subject of a news article can “object” to anything within that article by submitting a complaint to Objection. The site then contacts the author of the article, inviting them to defend their work by uploading supporting evidence. Objection then would send the information to a “tribunal” of artificial intelligence “judges” to gauge the legitimacy of the journalism. The AI judges included publicly available models like Claude, ChatGPT and Grok. 

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Innovations in Media: 'The Print Edition'

There’s unorthodox, then just a big further afield is The Print Edition. 

In an age of seemingly endless and disposable media, two men have launched a podcast-to-print product that is just odd enough to carve a profitable niche. 

Issue 1 of "The Print Edition"In short, The Print Edition is a quarterly printed tabloid-sized newspaper that “celebrates an escape from the algorithm and a deeper connection to what’s around us. What will you find here? Well, things we’re interested in ourselves. Travel, style, sports and the details that make those things better.”

OK, we have a blend of freeform and tidiness. Structure but squishiness.

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