What is RSS & why is it a big deal?
From New York’s Syndicate Conference: Why’s RSS a Big Deal? 6/10/2005
NEW YORK CITY – The only thing simple about really simple syndication (RSS) may be its name.
The biggest players in RSS met recently at the Syndicate Conference in New York City for what many were calling the “RSS coming out party”. There was some preaching to the choir along with bold expressions of faith. RSS is still in its infancy, and if you haven’t heard of it, you may want to listen to the buzz on the Web.
To put it simply, RSS is a direct channel of updated (or syndicated) information from a Web site or publisher. You may have noticed orange RSS or XML boxes popping up on your favorite Web sites. These are links to a site’s RSS feed. You can then read these feeds on your desktop or on the Web through an RSS aggregator or feed reader.
Publishers, marketers and advertisers were all on hand to discuss the impact of RSS on advertising and on the changing world of content distribution.
There were some recurring phrases like “RSS is revolutionary,” “content will be king,” “users are in control” and “advertisers are shaking in their boots”. It was hard to tell if terms like “revolutionary,” “risk” and “reward” were used because everyone believed them or because they happened to also be the subtitle of the conference brochure.
Alex Williams, managing director of events at Corante, says advertisers and publishers are “scared to hell” of RSS. He added: “It challenges the 19th century business model of publication or selling newspapers with breaking news.”
Speakers spent lots of time touting the virtues of RSS. For example, instead of searching your favorite Web site for updated content, you subscribe to headline feeds from those sites. You can quickly view the headlines and decide what information interests you. The time you save can be spent marveling at the time you saved.
But not everyone is sold. Lincoln Millstein has misgivings.
He’s senior vice president and director of digital media for Hearst Newspapers. He said: “One of my biggest fears is that readers are turning into readers of headlines instead of readers of stories.” This, of course, is the same criticism leveled against television and radio news when they first came along.
RSS is also being seen as a major “breakthrough tool” for bloggers and those who read them. Readers can set themselves up for automatic retrievals and never fall behind. As blogs move from mere hobby to concrete tools for brick-and-mortar businesses, this use of RSS becomes more significant.
Another big theme of the conference was the relationship between publisher and reader. Millstein added: “There’s a giant shift now under way that the consumer is now in control.”
Since RSS users can unsubscribe with ease, Robert Scoble, Microsoft’s inside blogger, says content providers will have to think twice before publishing. He added: “RSS is powerful because if I turn idiotic, I’m off you feed list.”
As for advertising, there are hopes and risks without much evidence. While early numbers suggest that traffic is growing, the long-term picture is unclear. Still, a few big players are staking claims. Martin Nisenholtz, senior vice president of digital operations for the New York Times, offered a keynote speech and said RSS is a channel to watch.
“We have gotten RSS out there. We’ve gone from 500,000 page views to 7 million. It’s the fastest-growing distribution channel we have,” Nisenholtz said. “As more people use RSS, it’s becoming the way that a lot of people are accessing our content.”
While the Times is moving with RSS, the endorsement isn’t yet persuasive. It’s hard to tell whether major players are making “progressive” business decisions or if they just don’t want to be left out of the game.
There was also some excitement when Google announced a beta launch for AdSense RSS. Like the version for Web pages, Google AdSense RSS would provide syndicated advertising content matched to a reader’s tastes.
Still, the conference saw no demonstration of revenue potential. Shuman Ghosemajumder, a business product manager for Google AdSense, was telling advertisers to emphasize quality content and human relationships.
“People aren’t going to subscribe to low-quality feeds,” Ghosemajumder said. “You’re building up a relationship with users. Users will have more control than ever and will be drawn to quality content. The challenge is making the advertisements valuable so people don’t want to get rid of it.”
Michael Dunn, vice president of Hearst Interactive Media, offered specific advice. He said to make advertisements “enabling” rather than “intruding”. In other words, if RSS is to replace spam, it will have to win people over.
The conference produced general agreement that RSS and blogs could change publishing for both publishers and subscribers. Specifics, though, are scarce. For example, branding may be difficult with pure text and RSS images aren’t yet widely used. If communities of readers will guide content, the role of the editor changes.
While advertisers are always looking for an advantage, they can be cautious in their spending. Tried-and-true channels often win out over unproven media. Media buyers – and the account executives who instruct them – may see RSS as a risk until the bandwagon is rolling more swiftly.
RSS is still very new. This conference resounded with optimism and speculation. Like the first rumblings of an earthquake, RSS is making people sit up straight and wonder what will happen next.
By LUKE MARONEY and TOM LaPORTE for ePrairie
