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Title
Abstract
Key Takeaways
Figures
Introduction
Literature Review
Results
Discussion
Limitations and Future Studies
Conclusion
References
All Topics
Sociology
Communication

The rise of online news aggregators: consumption and competition

Profile image of Iris ChyiIris ChyiProfile image of Angela M LeeAngela M Lee

2015, International Journal on Media Management

https://doi.org/10.1080/14241277.2014.997383
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23 pages

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Abstract

The rise of news aggregator sites is a notable phenomenon in the contemporary media landscape. Outperforming traditional news outlets for and information, online news aggregators such as Yahoo News, Google News and the Huffington Post have become major sources of news for American audiences. Facing economic hardships, some news organizations cast blames on news aggregators for stealing their content and audiences. However, the relationship between news aggregators and traditional media outlets on the demand side has not received sufficient scholarly attention. Through a national survey of 1,143 U.S. Internet users, this study integrates the uses and gratifications paradigm and an economic approach to predict aggregator consumption and examine market competition. In terms of consumption, among demographic factors, age and ethnicity are the two major predictors of aggregator use. Among psychological factors, opinion motivations is the only non-predictor of aggregator use, suggesting that users do not seek opinion-driven content when they visit aggregator sites. In terms of competition, this study uncovers non-competitive relationships between three major news aggregators and 13 major TV, print and social media news outlets. Such findings are at odds with industry sentiment and the proposed model serves as a basis for further theorizing news aggregator consumption.

Key takeaways
sparkles

AI

  1. News aggregators significantly shape the contemporary media landscape, impacting traditional news consumption and competition.
  2. Age and ethnicity are key demographic predictors of news aggregator use, as confirmed by a survey of 1,143 U.S. Internet users.
  3. Psychological motivations, particularly information needs, drive aggregator consumption; opinion-driven content is not sought.
  4. The study identifies non-competitive relationships between major aggregators and traditional media outlets, challenging industry perceptions.
  5. Yahoo News leads with a 55% penetration rate among U.S. adults, followed by Google News at 41% and Huffington Post at 20%.
Figures (7)
fo cite this article: Angela M. Lee & Hsiang Iris Chyi (2015): The Rise of Online News \ggregators: Consumption and Competition, International J ournal on Media Management, DOI L0.1080/ 14241277. 2014.997383
fo cite this article: Angela M. Lee & Hsiang Iris Chyi (2015): The Rise of Online News \ggregators: Consumption and Competition, International J ournal on Media Management, DOI L0.1080/ 14241277. 2014.997383
TABLE 1 Comparing Yahoo News, Google News, and the Huffington Post “Source: Nielsen data on the 2013 State of the News Media Report (Sasseen et al., 2013). >Source: 2012 Pew Media Survey (Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 2012a)
TABLE 1 Comparing Yahoo News, Google News, and the Huffington Post “Source: Nielsen data on the 2013 State of the News Media Report (Sasseen et al., 2013). >Source: 2012 Pew Media Survey (Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 2012a)
TABLE 2 Comparing the U.S. Census Data and Sample Characteristics Note. *Source: 2010 U.S. census data. >These categories add up to more than 100% because respondents were allowed to self-identify as White and Hispanic or Black and Hispanic as to better measure the respondents’ self-reported race and ethnicity.
TABLE 2 Comparing the U.S. Census Data and Sample Characteristics Note. *Source: 2010 U.S. census data. >These categories add up to more than 100% because respondents were allowed to self-identify as White and Hispanic or Black and Hispanic as to better measure the respondents’ self-reported race and ethnicity.
Note. Penetration rate is defined as the percentage of users (i.e., people who reported using each outle sometimes or often). TABLE 3 Penetration Rates of All Media Outlets
Note. Penetration rate is defined as the percentage of users (i.e., people who reported using each outle sometimes or often). TABLE 3 Penetration Rates of All Media Outlets
TABLE 4 Demographic Characteristics of Aggregator Users and Non-Users Note. Users are those who visited each site sometimes or often. Aggregator users are those who visit any of the three aggregators sometimes or often. Aggregator non-users are those who do not visit any of the three news aggregators sometimes or often.
TABLE 4 Demographic Characteristics of Aggregator Users and Non-Users Note. Users are those who visited each site sometimes or often. Aggregator users are those who visit any of the three aggregators sometimes or often. Aggregator non-users are those who do not visit any of the three news aggregators sometimes or often.
Note. Cell entries are beta weights; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. TABLE 5 Predictors of News Aggregator Use
Note. Cell entries are beta weights; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. TABLE 5 Predictors of News Aggregator Use
TABLE 6 Demand Relationship Between Aggregators and Major News Media Outlets Note. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p <0.001; N = 1,143. The model entails partial correlation, controlling for six demographic variables and four motivation variables (information, entertainment, social, and opinion).
TABLE 6 Demand Relationship Between Aggregators and Major News Media Outlets Note. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p <0.001; N = 1,143. The model entails partial correlation, controlling for six demographic variables and four motivation variables (information, entertainment, social, and opinion).

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    Paromita ( P A R O M I T A P A I N . C O M ) Pain

    Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 2019

    Focused on the value of Facebook as a distribution platform for newspapers, this study shows that news which attracts and holds readers’ attention on Facebook is positively related to the brand awareness and brand loyalty of newspapers and Facebook. Brand-wise, Facebook and newspapers benefit when news is distributed through Facebook. The study shows that Facebook and major newspapers are somewhat mutually beneficial in helping build the brand loyalty of both. However, audiences who read news from major brands on Facebook rather than going to the news sites may create a certain illusory loyalty toward a news brand.

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    Epistemic Overconfidence in Algorithmic News Selection
    Mariken van der Velden

    Media and Communication, 2021

    The process of news consumption has undergone great changes over the past decade: Information is now available in an ever-increasing amount from a plethora of sources. Recent work suggests that most people would favor algorithmic solutions over human editors. This stands in contrast to public and scholarly debate about the pitfalls of algorithmic news selection—i.e., the so-called “filter bubbles.” This study therefore investigates reasons and motivations which might lead people to prefer algorithmic gatekeepers over human ones. We expect that people have more algorithmic appreciation when consuming news to pass time, entertain oneself, or out of escapism than when using news to keep up-to-date with politics (H1). Secondly, we hypothesize the extent to which people are confident in their own cognitive abilities to moderate that relationship: When people are overconfident in their own capabilities to estimate the relevance of information, they are more likely to have higher levels of...

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    Google News regresa a España: retos y oportunidades para profesionales y académicos
    CARLOS LOPEZOSA

    Anuario ThinkEPI

    The Google News Spain service has been relaunched after 8 years owing to the approval in Congress of the European copyright directive that allows Spanish media to make their own decisions on how to monetize and discover their content. This paper aims to present a review of the challenges and opportunities that the return of Google News Spain represents for professionals in the journalistic sector as well as for academics and scholars of communication, documentation, and web visibility. To this end, an analysis of the operation and new services of Google’s news aggregator is carried out. Resumen El servicio de Google News España se ha relanzado tras 8 años gracias a la aprobación en el Congreso de la directiva europea del copyright que permite a los medios de comunicación españoles tomar sus propias decisiones sobre cómo monetizar y descubrir su contenido. Ante esta circunstancia, nace este trabajo que tiene como objetivo presentar una revisión de los retos y oportunidades que supone...

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