Web Publishing Roll-Up: Twitter, CNN and Google Make Money

This week in web publishing: revenue-generating schemes, be it Twitter or CNN.

Twitter Users Generate Revenue

If you’re on Twitter, you may already know what recent research has shown. Twitter users are twice as likely to engage with brands — in multiple ways — than other social network users. 

The survey conducted by the tech and media research firm Interpret surveyed over 9,200 internet users in August. They found that roughly 24% of the respondents that used Twitter, reviewed or rated products online. Only 12% of those surveyed that used other social media platforms (not Twitter) said the same.

In addition, Twitter users are also more likely to visit company profiles than non-Twitter users, and twice as likely to click on ads or sponsored links.

While Twitter has proven to be a platform for building brand loyalty and curiosity, it’s yet to be seen whether it can translate into revenue for Twitter. Plus, the whole Twitter business model is still not quite defined.

Paying for News You Can't Escape

Speaking of revenue, CNN is charging a one-time US$ 2.00  fee for their new CNN iPhone app that launched recently. The app will also collect revenue from advertisers, like their counterpart Time, Inc., whose app has chosen to go solely ad-supported. But CNN app was always planned as dual revenue stream from the start, launching with logo placement and banners for advertisers Chevron and Lexus.

So what will users get for two bucks? In addition to the news standard of constantly updated headlines, sharing and alerts, users can expect to receive live video via CNN.com, on-demand access to video clips, and direct access to submit iReports.

How many users will likely invest in a US$ 2.00 app from a network whose broadcasts are virtually inescapable? We’ll keep you posted.

Google Analytics for YouTube

Also speaking of revenue, Google has introduced what has been deemed “Google Analytics for YouTube.” Google will begin to issue copyright holders a tool to track viewer sentiment so as to determine the best distribution and marketing strategy for music, video and other content clips that are generated and uploaded by users.

Using YouTube Insights, copyright holders can find and monetize content uploaded across the YouTube network. Insights is a free analytics tool that lets media companies mine information. The goal is that copyright owners can begin to generate revenue from the data, which lets you think Google actually cares only about making users rich, will help to increase profits for YouTube.

So just how much potential for revenue on YouTube? Consider this: 161 million of Internet users watched online videos during August, says ComScore. Those users watched more than 25 billion videos, of which 10 billion were Google sites.

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Tags: cnn, google analytics, ireports, social media, twitter, web publishing, web publishing roll up, youtube

This week in web publishing: revenue-generating schemes, be it Twitter or CNN.