In media, we are moving from a content economy to a link economy.
The AP Affair is the best illustration of the clash between these two worldviews.
Let’s turn the discussion on its head. Let’s say that the real value in this equation is not content and information — both of which are now quickly commodified — but links, which are the new currency of media. Links can be exploited and monetized; get links and you can grab audience and show ads and make money. Content is becoming a cost burden, what you have to have to get the links, but in and of itself, content can’t draw value without an audience, without links.
So now let’s turn this fight on its head. The AP should not be asking for payment for its content. The bloggers should be asking for payment for their links. That is where the value is in this economy.
Step away from that ‘comment’ link. I am not seriously suggesting that bloggers should demand or accept payment for links. Indeed, that would be quite unethical — very PayPerPosty: selling out and devaluing our credibility. That’s why we don’t do it. Our link ethic would not allow it.
Still, there is value in our links and the AP, if it understood this new economy would understand that it is a gift economy and links are presents that can be given or earned but not bought. But the AP is still operating in the content economy, which values control instead. That age has passed.
[...] Quotes Jarvis: “In media, we are moving from a content economy to a link economy”; http://is.gd/Aih [...]
[...] Orginalpost: The link economy v. the content economy [...]
Good post/observation…without a link, I won’t know about their content, it doesn’t exist.
The AP wants bloggers to play by its rules, but it’s too late. Bloggers want AP to play by blogosphere rules, but the AP is not a blog.
What good are links for the AP? What would the AP do with them, or page views? Sell Google Ads around them at ap.org? Go to A-list blog meet-ups? The AP is not a blog. It’s a B2B operation.
The AP is a wholesaler, trying to be a retailer, where people give away the fruits and vegetables from their gardens.
More to the point I’d say we’re in an attention economy, and links have value proportional to the amount of attention that they draw to the linked source.
F**k the AP. Let the market take its course. Reuters is offering free APIs for bloggers and anyone else who wants to build on their content. Which company will prosper and which company will wither while rest of the world moves beyond them?
Good question, Brian. I’m writing one more post about just that.
[...] and conflict with its members/owners. As Brian Cubbison says in the comment here, the AP is a wholesaler trapped in a retail world. Reuters is dealing with that conflict because it’s not owned by [...]
But you have to have things (news is just one of them) of value and substance to link TO. It’s a symbiotic, chicken and egg, can’t have one without the other – far, far from an either/or. So let’s not argue chicken/egg and figure out how to save the damn poultry farm we all depend on to eat well;-)
Interesting point. Thank you for making it. Makes me think.
A most excellent summary of the viewpoint. This part is especially concise:
“Links can be exploited and monetized; get links and you can grab audience and show ads and make money. Content is becoming a cost burden, what you have to have to get the links …”
[...] the links, but in and of itself, content can’t draw value without an audience, without links. [Read original] Tags: Audience, Clash, Content Economy, Currency, Illustration, Money, Moving Related [...]
[...] The link economy v. the content economy – BuzzMachine “Ket’s say that the real value in this equation is not content and information — both of which are now quickly commodified — but links, which are the new currency of media.” (tags: internet media journalism economics links ap) [...]
If you are going to discuss the link economy, you need to start taking a look at some of the problems and conflicts of interest surrounding Google. They have a monoply share of between 60-65% of the global search market, and they started banning website content publishers who sell link advertisements on their own websites.
Google, with 2 competing ad networks of their own in adsense and soon in doubleclick, also recently inked an advertising deal with Yahoo. A recent analyst said the lion’s share of Google’s profits come from advertising revenue, and a recent survey of Time’s top 50 websites found 33 of them were using google adsense. The squeeze to drive revenue to their own service has been successful.
So a company with a monopoly share of the search market and 2 competing ad networks is dictating how consumers and content producers can sell legitimate adversiting. If the market is moving from a content economy to a link economy, government regulation in this instance is needed.
Link advertisements are an effort to game Google and are within rights to avoid them.
[...] is a lot of conversation about link economies, and particularly the AP’s linking [...]
Brian asked, “What good are links for the AP?”
If an AP article on my web site gets linked, I get more visitors to my site, I make more money, I’m more inclined to do business with AP.
Ari, it sounds like you’re a retailer who buys material from AP the wholesaler. (Google indicates that to be the case.) I understand that situation very well. Now, if everybody links to AP the retailer, those links do neither of you any good. Can AP go to its members and say, “Pay us more because we got more clicks this month on Google”?
Then there’s the blogger who doesn’t buy AP material but links to it occasionally. No real harm, but no real return for AP.
There’s the sports forum where fans will post whole AP stories. The harm might be random but precedent-setting, with no return for you and no return for AP.
Then there’s the aggregator that doesn’t buy from AP but builds a business around a large collection of links, including to large quantities of AP. Even if the aggregator buys, why should anyone else buy from AP? “Do what you do best and link to the rest.”
AP tried impose its own rules on an unruly sphere, rules that were stricter than the generally accepted understanding of fair use, and had to back down. But AP runs the risk of ending up with one customer and almost no suppliers.
[...] Ardia reports on the fundamental misunderstanding of the link economy of media at the Carnegie-Knight Conference on the Future of Journalism. I got the quote from Jay [...]
[...] “The AP should not be asking for payment for its content. The bloggers should be asking for payment for their links. That is where the value is in this economy.” skriver Jeff Jarvis. [...]
Great post, Jeff. My sentiments exactly. Bloggers trade in links! The new global currency. Made a video about it here: http://snurl.com/2nixc
[...] events move online, what the AP seems likely to have done is to just cut themselves out of the link economy. Jeff Jarvis suggests that this could be the end of [...]
[...] Más información Buzzmachine [...]
[...] the link economy, it becomes incumbent upon the receiver of a link to monetize it and newspapers do get a lot of [...]
[...] news outlets. Not really a long article, but several short ones about the same issue. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Michael Arrington at TechCrunch wrote about the same [...]
[...] The link economy v. the content economy [...]
[...] Pelo visto, já entenderam a importância da “economia do link“. [...]
[...] the Ideas blog. Basically like an old style blog they’re pointing you to the good stuff. The link economy is bedding in at the Grey [...]
[...] as most of us are now. Just like how newspapers can be more transparent, and more trust-worthy in a link-economy, when they show what information and from who they’ve used for every [...]
[...] it’s great in theory – a revolution of the link economy. Whereas people linking out to quality content were in the past building a reputation as a trusted [...]
[...] its own journalism alongside good journalism elsewhere. It’s what Jeff Jarvis has been banging on about lately — the link culture of the [...]
[...] its own journalism alongside good journalism elsewhere. It’s what Jeff Jarvis has been banging on about lately — the link culture of the [...]
[...] only a click away, and keeping users on site is critical. So why wouldn’t online publishers link to the best of the web as a service to their [...]
[...] start to share in some of the extraordinary wealth that is generated off of their sweat equity. The link economy. We needz [...]
[...] Jeff Jarvis says, the Internet enables us do what we do best, and link to the rest. Thanks to creative thinkers like David Cohn, it allows the public to decide how and about what [...]
[...] Jeff Jarvis agrees, talking about the importance of link economy in his Future of Journalism series for the Guardian. [...]
[...] syndication model is dying. As the content economy is supplanted by the link economy, reselling the same story over [...]
[...] Many are disappointed with legacy media and have embraced ideas such as conversational journalism, link journalism, the economics of free, etc. But what if that’s all smoke and mirrors? Where are the real-life [...]
[...] And you can’t go pass Jeff Jarvis for more insight into the link economy. [...]
[...] you want to talk about a link economy you have to be talking about effective links. Effective links are ones that people want to click. [...]
[...] and a legal cause would follow. What would that do to information on the internet? How would the link economy be affected if users followed links only to be told they had to register and [...]
[...] Ich habe gerade ein nettes Video-Interview mit Jeff Jarvis bei turi2 gefunden, was im Kern das bespricht, womit sich das Social Media FORUM wiederholt beschäftigt – mit der dezentralen Medienlandschaft und seinen Mechanismen oder in Jarvis’ Worten der “Link Economy” [...]
[...] * Make Google pay. This one assumes that newspapers have a God-given right to the income they used to get from advertising and that Google (and craigslist and eBay and papers’ own customers with their own, free web sites, for that matter) stole it from the papers and thus are starving journalism. Show me where that commandment is written. Others competed with lazy, monopolistic newspapers, giving the marketplace a better service. Google and the rest owe them nothing. Indeed, newspapers should be paying Google for its distribution and promotion, as Google is the new newsstand and content gains value with links. [...]
[...] Google soll zahlen – Dieser Plan basiert auf der Annahme, dass Zeitungen eine Art Naturrecht auf die Einnahmen haben, das sie mit Werbung erwirtschaften, und dass Google (und Craigslist und Ebay und die Zeitungsleser mit ihren eigenen kostenlosen Websites, wenn wir schon dabei sind) diese Einnahmen stehlen und damit den Journalismus aushungern. Ich wüsste mal gerne, in welchen Stein dieses Naturgesetz gemeißelt ist. Es haben schon andere mit faulen, monopolistischen Zeitungen konkurriert und der Allgemeinheit einen besseren Dienst geboten. Google & Co. schulden den Zeitungen gar nichts. Im Gegenteil: Die Zeitungen müssten Google für Vertriebs- und Promotionleistungen bezahlen. Google ist der neue Kiosk, Inhalte gewinnen durch Verlinkung an Wert. [...]
[...] Lail also has a roundup of links reacting to Walter Isaacson’s stumping of micropayments and a link to Jeff Jarvis’s thoughts on bad models for financing newspapers: Make Google pay. This one assumes that newspapers have a God-given right to the income they used to get from advertising and that Google (and craigslist and eBay and papers’ own customers with their own, free web sites, for that matter) stole it from the papers and thus are starving journalism. Show me where that commandment is written. Others competed with lazy, monopolistic newspapers, giving the marketplace a better service. Google and the rest owe them nothing. Indeed, newspapers should be paying Google for its distribution and promotion, as Google is the new newsstand and content gains value with links. [...]
[...] Links are value. Content without links is valueless because it is unseen and cannot be monetized. Content with links gains value both because it has an audience that can be monetized and because it gains credence in Google PageRank, which equates links with value. That is the basic precept of the link economy. [...]
[...] that has been occurring with greater frequency on journalism-related blogs and Twitter. In the link economy, the only way I can make a name for myself and build traffic is by getting other people to link to [...]
[...] it with no benefit to them in the form of payment, credit, or links. The AP is built for the content economy and is incapable of shifting to support its members or compete in the link [...]
[...] they break the broader link economy (though I may be using the phrase slightly differently from Jeff Jarvis), which on the whole is quite different from the relationship between publishers and search engines [...]
[...] link economy, and an attention economy. If that’s the case, I’d better stop before I lose your [...]
[...] apparently, the AP wants to start to rectify its role in the link economy by creating these news maps. OK, I’ll agree that there must be more linking directly to [...]
[...] Would Google Do?” keeps referring to “the gift economy,” where participants give away things of value to the shared benefit of the community. Think [...]
[...] an audience to them. It allows people to find your article, it doesn’t take it away. Another Jeff Jarvis quote: Content is becoming a cost burden, what you have to have to get the links, but in and of itself, [...]
[...] pages (as the NYT plans) and across their sites, it will have a HUGE impact on the web’s link economy. These news orgs may have been slow to realize how linking drives content distribution and [...]
[...] pages (as the NYT plans) and across their sites, it will have a HUGE impact on the web’s link economy. These news orgs may have been slow to realize how linking drives content distribution and [...]
An Alternative to Capitalism?
The following link, takes you to a “utopian” article, entitled “Home of the Brave?” which I wrote and appeared in the Athenaeum Library of Philosophy:
http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/steinsvold.htm
John Steinsvold
[...] qui l’amène à conclure, dans un autre billet sur l’économie de liens, que le contenu n’est rien sans les liens. Links can be exploited and monetized; get links [...]
[...] our bow is the most destructive and ignorant of them all. The AP doggedly refuses to understand the link economy of the digital age and its [...]
[...] 26, 2009 · View commentsComments The success of the Web is based around the concept of the link economy. It is a concept that has made Google one of the largest companies on the web. As well it has made [...]
[...] saying that AP is only hurting itself with its business approach. The AP would rather destroy the link economy. Oh, it probably won’t succeed, just because what it suggests is so impractical and illegal [...]
[...] arbeitet gerade an einem neuen Projekt mit dem Titel “Conversation Economy” (im Unterschied zur Link Economy und Content Economy?) Das vollständige Interview (Länge 11:25 min) inklusive Transkription findet sich auf [...]
The link economy and “discovery” is the way. This reminds me of the Christian concept of “tithing”. It is hard for new believers to understand the concept of giving 10% of their wages to the church, in return will be blessings from God. The link economy is so similar. The AP does not get this. You must “trust” and give away in the new economy to be blessed in the cloud.
[...] But then a funny thing happened. I reluctantly “tried” the Facebook thing. And I liked it. It was, well addicting. But I did not yet “get” Twitter. Then I tried Twitter. Then I started learning from insightful tweets. I bookmarked blog after blog. I watched podcasts. I started commenting on blogs! Then I bit the bullet and launched two new blogs of my own. Plus I revised my static business website to be a hybrid – blog and static business site (Thanks to #Joomla). And low and behold, I was thrust into the Link Economy without actually knowing it. But I totally grokked it. It just became clear to my mind that not only is this the new economy and the way, but if you are not educating yourself and participating right now, you are in deep trouble as a business person. I feel blessed to have been enlightened and not missing the revolution. And, this is very real, folks. It doesn’t matter whether you are a old school newspaper (read this blog, genius – Clay Shirky – Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable) or a web developer, you need to be involved in the link economy now or you days are numbered. If your business relies on information flow or publishing, you are intrinsically affected. If your business needs to be found on the Internet, you are intrinsically affected. Is there anyone left? Not many. Read this blog post from Jeff Jarvis – The Link Economy vs. The Content Economy [...]
[...] fluidity of web. According to media professor and consultant Jeff Jarvis, we are moving from a “content economy” to a “link economy:” Let’s say that the real value in this equation is not content and information — both of which [...]
[...] Weinberger correctly observes that in an era of link economies: What we used to believe because we thought the author was objective we now believe because we can [...]
[...] this explosion there is also a new business logic becomes prevalent, which Jeff Jarvis describes as “link economy” in contrast to “content economy”. The clash of these two logics boils down to the [...]
[...] this explosion there is also a new business logic becoming prevalent which Jeff Jarvis describes as “link economy” in contrast to “content economy”. These two logics clash because one measures the value of [...]
[...] fluidity of web. According to media professor and consultant Jeff Jarvis, we are moving from a “content economy” to a “link economy:” Let’s say that the real value in this equation is not content and information — both of which [...]
[...] that many of their competitors don’t. — Also of interest might be: Jeff Jarvis on The Link Economy and The Ethic of the [...]
[...] the content economy has evolved into a link economy and now more than ever, an attention economy. This begs the question, “How are you giving [...]
[...] My working title for this is ”Think Outside the Blog’ but it’s interesting how blogs have become the center of gravity for so much of what we do –what we produce, consume, how we distribute, connect, and participate in the so-called link economy. [...]
Links need to still be relevant to content! Its not that clear cutt!
[...] such a fragile economy be the future? Some very smart people have made compelling arguments about the value of links. There’s more to debate on that topic but for sure we can agree [...]
[...] doing?, pero desde ahora lo será mucho más todavía. Las palabras serán más importantes, los enlaces serán más valiosos y las etiquetas serán más [...]
[...] doing?, pero desde ahora lo será mucho más todavía. Las palabras serán más importantes, los enlaces serán más valiosos y las etiquetas serán más [...]
[...] Economía de Links [...]
[...] Jeff Jarvis, el profeta de la “link economy“ explica: “El contenido es una carga en términos de costos; es algo necesario para conseguir los links. Pero por sí mismo el contenido no puede conseguir valor sin una audiencia, esto es, sin links (…) Los links son la nueva moneda de los medios“. [...]
[...] Wait and see, donc. Quoi qu’il en soit, Twitter semble avoir autant grandi en une vingtaine de jours qu’au cours de ses trois ans et demi d’existence. Pas forcément en terme d’audience : la fréquentation du site a même un peu chuté en octobre. Mais en termes de maturité, cela ne fait aucun doute : en s’affirmant comme un réseau d’information, et en confirmant cette affirmation dans les faits, ce qui n’était à ses débuts qu’un simple “side project” a confirmé sa place centrale dans l’économie du lien. [...]
[...] I’ve often scratched my head wondering why companies haven’t taken greater advantage to monetize web links. Without links, the World Wide Web is just the Internet. Retweets seem to be a sure way to link [...]
[...] the difference between building trusted media brands which people will pay to consume, and link economies, which don’t appear to be providing a living for many people right [...]
[...] almeno non quanti ce ne vorrebbero per tenere in piedi un sistema editoriale di alto livello. Alla link economy, in sostanza, il patron della News Corp preferisce la filosofia del “meglio pochi [...]
[...] almeno non quanti ce ne vorrebbero per tenere in piedi un sistema editoriale di alto livello. Alla link economy, in sostanza, il patron della News Corp preferisce la filosofia del “meglio pochi [...]
[...] only the most profitable business model for Web 2.0–to the point where some now speak of the content economy becoming the ‘link economy’–but content aggregators have become the mouthpiece of choice for both the far right and far [...]
[...] Jeff Jarvis believes that these giving relationships online amount to what he terms as a ‘link economy‘. “Links can be exploited and monetized; get links and you can grab audience and show [...]
[...] link to learn what that is. And if you do, think about that link. Jeff Jarvis coined the phrase link economy. Chris Anderson coined the phrase the long tail. I propose a new coinage: the hashtag [...]
[...] a new media “expert” if you will, and hear him speak on something he calls “The Link Economy.” When I got back from NYC, I picked up a freelance gig working on a business plan for [...]
[...] now live in a link economy where the power of relationships, products, services, brands and ideas is NO LONGER the business or [...]