On NewsStand Now: Key Word Links In Newspapers, Magazines

NewsStand took another step Wednesday toward mainstreaming the delivery of digital versions of newspapers and magazines, launching a keyword linking feature that automates the insertion of hot links that connect e-editions with Web content.

The announcement came two months to the day after the company formally unveiled a browser-based reader designed to lure more readers to digital and electronic publications. However, the keyword linking feature is clearly aimed more toward publishers and marketers hoping to steer readers to specific content on their sites without having to manually insert every link.

Here's how it works: if publishers want to automatically associate certain words with a specific URL, NewsStand can instruct its e-reader to automatically identify the given characters and insert the link. Thus, a publisher can ensure that the words "economic policy" provide readers with a hot link that steers them to, say, an in-depth study on their Web site about U.S. investments abroad. NewsStand claims to be the first company to devise a way to make automated linking work within e-editions (a spokesperson for top competitor Zinio did not return a call for comment).

"I think it's the next logical step," says NewsStand President and Chief Executive Officer Kit Webster. "What publishers want are features that enhance the Internet-ness--to coin a phrase--of digital editions. This is one of the biggest ones."

Questions about the keyword linking feature aren't likely to be answered until a host of publishers start experimenting with it. While Webster claims that the response from publishers has been positive, even he acknowledges that many are unsure how best to utilize it. "They say that they love the idea, but then the 'however' part of the sentence comes," he notes. "They're asking, 'how extensively would we use this?' and 'do we want to sell it to advertisers?' Those are the kind of things that will be worked out over time."

Neil Budde, president of publishing consultancy The Neil Budde Group, agrees. Prefacing his comments by stressing that "this is hard for me to picture until I put it into practice," Budde notes that one of the common complaints about e-editions is that they aren't anywhere near as interactive as they could be-- or as interactive as what even neophyte Internet users have come to expect. "Things like [keyword linking], which can make e-editions function more interactively, can only help," he says.

Budde sees two potential pitfalls for the new service. Like Webster, he believes that it can only go as far as its users take it. He also wonders if the automation could prove to be detrimental.

"Publishers like automation because they don't have to spend time and energy on it," he cautions. "On the other hand, without some level of intelligent processing by human beings, maybe you don't get the best linking capabilities. That could make the service a lot less useful than it otherwise might be."

Next story loading loading..