Content Management Matters ™

Just out the door, eZ Systems announces the latest version of their flagship web content management product -- eZ Publish v4.0. Can you hear the cheers from the Open Source community now? Or how about from the online publishers, who eZ Systems' execs assert they are "200% focused on."

If you think your company failed to recognize the merit of its website until recently, you're not alone. The British Broadcasting Company is taking another look at its online efforts and investing new monies after reports showed that its website has earned nearly four percent of its total revenues in just 18 months.

Initially, they had aimed at securing 10 percent of revenues from their online property, over time, but now according to BBC Worldwide Chief Executive John Smith, "we have [probably] under-egged the extent to which we will see more of our revenues coming from the Internet."

Now there's proof that tearing down walls and unlatching gates has its merits -- in case you had your doubts.

Nielsen recently released the latest ratings for online traffic for newspapers. The numbers indicate that "more people visited NYTimes.com than any other newspaper Web site in October." With more than 17.5 million unique monthly visitors, up from 14.6 million in September, The New York Times can attribute much of this success to their initiative to end paid subscription to TimesSelect, their exclusive "walled garden" which allowed subscribers access to "premium" columns and the paper's entire news archives.

According to estimates from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) advertising spend on newspaper websites jumped by 21.1%, to US$ 773 million in Q3 2007 vs. Q3 2006.

The increase reflects the fourteenth consecutive quarter of double digit growth for online newspaper advertising, a metric NAA has been tracking since 2004. Web advertising now accounts for 7.1% of total newspaper ad revenues, as compared to 5.4 % a year ago.

But the picture ain't all rosy.

The walls are coming down. Or at least there are rumors of cracks. It should be happening any moment now. While we wait, let's consider recent rumblings.

The few things that have eluded the online word -- as opposed to the infamous written word of yesteryear -- are metrics of validity and accuracy, and the grail of a referenceable reputation.

With so many sites and so many people wanting to consume and interact, we never really can be sure whose version of what is most accurate. Somehow, it was all so much easier to believe when it was published in print.

The 7th annual Open Publish 2007 conference kicks-off on August 1st in Sydney, Australia. The focus is content management and open standards in the context of both Web and print publishing. This year the show is brought to you by Allette Systems and CM Professionals member James Robert's Step Two Designs.