By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
Trib Total Media’s Web 2.0-enhanced-site, www.pittsburghlive.com, is taking personalization to a new level for Pittsburgh-area readers and advertisers.
The newspaper group, which publishes the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review as well as other daily and weekly newspapers, launched the hub’s redesign in January, incorporating new features that give readers customized content.
“The site has a much greater focus on entertainment and community-based information while [sister site] PghTrib.com does the daily and hard news,” said Ed Kost, division manager for TTM (see related story, page 70).
Pittsburghlive.com uses software from Pittsburgh-based developer mSpoke Inc. to suggest content to readers based on their habits and personal preferences. The approach mirrors the strategy followed by such popular sites as Netflix and Amazon, both of which deliver tailored content to their customers.
Individualized content
MSpoke’s Adaptive Personalization Engine generates individualized content, advertising and product recommendations for subscribers.
“It delivers relevant RSS headlines to the individual,” said Kost.
The Web site collects personalized news from dozens of news sources and blogs, local and abroad, and applies the adaptive personalization technology to filter out the stories of interest. Users can also suggest news sites for their customized sections.
The adaptive technology also learns to suggest and change its recommendations as tastes change for each user.
The Tribune-Review dedicates 16 workers to its online staff, with eight handling operational/technical aspects and eight overseeing editorial/news.
The Web site is engineered to show users why certain stories are suggested to them, Kost said.
“Consumers want and need transparency and empowerment. It enables them to declare their intentions,” said Kost.
The site is also bolstered with Eurekster Inc.’s Swicki search engine. The app allows users to create searches on topics that reflect the interest of a particular Web site or blog.
To that end, PittsburghLive’s Swicki includes keywords housed in a customized buzz cloud that continually display the most popular search terms in the community, such as classifieds, Penguins and Pirates, the latter reflecting the city’s hockey and baseball teams, respectively.
Promotes afternoon daily
The Web site also promotes the Tribune-Review’s Monday-through-Friday afternoon paper, the Trib. The 32,000-circulation free sheet debuted in 2003 and is aimed at downtown workers.
TTM is constantly tweaking Pittsburghlive.com. Last month, for example, the site began offering streaming video in a partnership with Google.
“We experimented with Google to (show videos) on what used to be a main ad position,” Kost said. “It’s mostly videos on style and there’s one featuring skiing in the Rockies.”
Additional video support is in the works. Next month the site will add more video channels, including slots aimed at entertainment, news and other areas, Kost said.
Web site Snapshot
www.pittsburghlive.com
Launched 1995
Last major redesign: January 2007
Owner: Trib Total Media
Newspapers:
•Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
•Daily Courier in Connellsville, Pa.
•Leader Times in Kittanning, Pa.
•The Valley Independent in Monessen, Pa.
•Valley News Dispatch in Tarentum, Pa.
TTM also owns 23 weekly community newspapers, an afternoon edition Trib p.m. and several magazine.
Web Traffic for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review*
Total unique audience: 588,084
Total page views 9,859,825
Visitors’ household income
$25-$49,999 81,324
Visitors’ household income
$50-$99,000 262,101
Visitors’ household income
$100,000+ 196,164
*Source: NAA NAdbase Fall 2006
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