Before you head out for the three-day weekend, check out this week’s edition of Five on Friday. Disqus explores why readers pay for news, Ad Week explains ways media companies can use native advertising to their advantage, a consumer watchdog group in the U.K. is monitoring social influencers who may not be disclosing paid promotions, YouTube is being strategic about its premium content and Shigeru Miyamoto urges game developers to embrace subscription-based services.

Why People Do and Don’t Pay for News 

Disqus wanted to find out why readers do and don’t pay for news, so they conducted a survey of their readers and commenters over a four-week period to learn more about their news habits. Here are some of the results of that survey:

• Out of 1,215 votes collected over four weeks, nearly 70 percent of respondents, or 845 people, said they have paid for online news in the last year.
• The top reason people gave for paying for content was to access high quality content from publications they like reading. Other reasons included supporting a publication’s mission, supporting journalism’s role in society, their favorite news outlets had a paywall, gaining access to exclusive content, and discounts and promotions.

One reader, “rhoneyman,” said the following about why he pays for news:

“A free and active press is a critical component to a healthy democracy. I can’t support all pubs, but I support NYT, WaPo and the Detroit Free Press. I may add a couple more in due time. The destruction of the print advertising revenue model turns out to be a massive threat to the political ecology. I accept the need for me to provide the financial support to the news industry at a cost little more than the cost of taking physical delivery of newspapers.”

Reasons people don’t pay for online news are equally interesting:

• Readers can get the same content for free elsewhere.
• They don’t trust any news outlet or publication enough to pay for their content.
• Subscriptions are too costly.

Read more about the results and Disqus’ analysis in “Why Readers Pay for News (and Why They Don’t)” by Tony Hue on Disqus.com. 

2 Tips for Leveraging Native Advertising 

As media companies figure out their ideal business model, many brands are leveraging native advertising to their benefit. In a recent article by Scott Gerber, CEO of The Community Company, Adweek shared four ways they can take advantage of this evolving advertising tool. Here are two to consider:

1. Quality, relevant content is key. Whether a media organization is generating its own content or buying it from a contributor or outside network, the quality – and relevance – of the material is absolutely critical.
2. Think creatively when offering native advertising opportunities to contributors, small companies and brands. Perhaps offered tiered price points for different levels or offer native advertising slots as a membership benefit. By creating such opportunities, media companies can (a) generate recurring revenue and (b) reduce the burden on their sales teams.

Read more in “4 Ways Media Companies Can Take Advantage of a New Era of Native Advertising” on Adweek.

Consumer Watchdogs Are Focusing on Social Media Influencers

The growth of the use of social influencers has created concern among consumer watchdog groups that some influencers may be failing to disclose when they are being paid to promote products or services. One group, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), recently announced it is paying attention to social media stars and other celebrities, though it didn’t name names, reports Tubefilter.

“Social media stars can have a big influence on what their followers do and buy,” said George Lusty, CMA’s senior director for consumer protection. “If people see clothes, cosmetics, a car, or a holiday being plugged by someone they admire, they might be swayed into buying it. So, it’s really important they are clearly told whether a celebrity is promoting a product because they have bought it themselves, or because they have been paid or thanked in some way by the brand.”

In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission is also paying attention. Last fall, the FTC updated its guidelines and FAQs on testimonials and endorsements, it settled a case against two individual social media influencers, and it sent warning letters to others regarding failure to comply with FTC guidelines.

The bottom line: using social media influencers to tout your subscription product or service is a legitimate marketing strategy, but you must play by the rules in whatever jurisdiction governs your activities. Read more about this topic on Tubefilter or read our September 15, 2017 article by Lisa B. Dubrow, Esq., on the updated FTC guidelines.

YouTube’s Premium Strategy: Go Global or Go Home

For as much money and muscle must be behind the Alphabet, Google and YouTube machines, it is surprising that YouTube has struggled with branding its premium subscription services. In May, YouTube rebranded its Red video service and its music service as YouTube Premium ($12 a month) and YouTube Music Premium ($10 a month), reports Fast Company.

Since doing so, YouTube has launched subscription services in 17 markets and it plans to make foreign-language programs in half a dozen countries as well original programming (sound familiar, Netflix?) According to Fast Company, YouTube is planning three shows in Spanish, and a new Korean original about K-pop star G-Dragon. These programs are in addition to YouTube favorites like Escape the Night, Liza on Demand and Cobra Kai.

Fast Company said the pressure on YouTube comes from competition from other SVOD services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and HBO.

“YouTube is a global product with more than 80% of watch time coming outside the United States, so we’re very motivated to get to a global place as soon as possible,” says Adam Smith, YouTube’s VP for product management. “Each country has different licensing, payment, and partnerships, so we’re moving as quickly as we can to get to as many countries as possible.”

Read more about YouTube’s premium subscription strategy in “YouTube’s New Strategy for Premium Content Is All About Global Scale” by Scott Porch for Fast Company.

Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto Encourages Developers to Consider Subscription-Based Services 

At this year’s Computer Entertainment Developers Conference, Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo said that game developers and publishers should embrace subscription-based services, reports Nintendo Life.

“It’s necessary for developers to learn to get alone with [subscription services]… When seeking a partner for this, it’s important to find someone who understands the value of your software. Then customers will feel the value in your apps and software and develop a habit of paying money for them,” Miyamoto said.

The timing for these comments is ideal, as the Nintendo Switch Online Subscription launches in September. With this subscription, players can pay as little as $3.99 for one month or $19.99 for a year. If game developers are willing to work with subscription-based payments, they can generate recurring revenue for themselves and expand their customer base which benefits Nintendo, Xbox and other gaming subscription services too.