Newsadoo: Startup reinvents news with artificial intelligence
from David Wurm 
on June 14, 2018, 10:35 pm | 🔥 popular | 1 comment
Consuming news and media on the Internet is becoming increasingly popular. In our digital world, it is possible to get information at any time. But with so much news it is easy to lose track. At a developer conference with Google News, Google has already created a news platform with artificial intelligence for more personalized news. This is exactly what a media publisher from Austria now wants to do with Newsadoo - only better.
So far, some have always used Facebook to read news - like or subscribe to a page there. Then you scroll down through the endless feed and see the content of your favorite pages. After this Cambridge Analytica data scandal, which caused a lot of excitement, some users were puzzled and deleted their own Facebook account. Even if you used Facebook to read the news, somehow the social network was just not made for such things. In addition to Google, the Austrian publisher is now also trying 18th Floor Online Media together with the marketing agency Pulp media with the platform Newsadoo to develop such a news ecosystem. Goal: to build the Spotify for news.
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With artificial intelligence to Spotify for news
Following the example of Spotify, the team behind CEO David Böhm has kept to the development of this platform. Spotify bundles music from many different artists on one platform and uses artificial intelligence to analyze the user's taste in music. This is how the startup does it: "With Newsadoo we bundle the content from all relevant sources in one place, analyze it using AI and deliver it individually and with many additional functions to the users", says Böhm about the core functionality of Newsadoo.
Newsadoo is optimized for mobile devices - corresponding apps are also to follow in the summer. (Image: © 2018 Newsadoo)
They want to offer these core functions free of charge to all users. In return, users with the free basic subscription are shown advertising on the platform. In addition, the aim is to attract users with paid subscriptions with freedom of advertising and reading directly in the platform. Currently one is offering one Website with desktop and mobile version. In June, an Android and iOS app will be available together with a Alexa-Skill to follow.
How the platform should work technically
On request by TechnikNews we were also able to find out some technical details. Currently, until all legal aspects have been resolved, the RSS feeds of the news platforms of publishers will be integrated into Newsadoo. This means that only articles that publishers want to have public are currently displayed: no premium articles or anything else. The technology to integrate such other articles should also already be available. The system fetches the latest articles from the servers at regular intervals and analyzes the content. If several sources are found for a headline, they are bundled and only a news block is displayed with links to other pages with this news. Artificial intelligence is supposed to regulate which pages are displayed at the top. By learning about preferences and preferred news sources, the platform lists the articles accordingly. Like the competition, the news ecosystem does not display the articles in chronological order.
Users can also choose the sources of the news displayed on Newsadoo themselves. It is currently not possible to add your own news feeds to your account, but new sources can be suggested. If a source is mentioned several times by different users, an attempt will be made to bring it into the platform. From a certain reach and brand strength, blogs should be integrated in the same way.
Collect a lot of data - but anonymously
When asked about user data protection, CEO David Böhm told us the following: “We collect a great deal of behavioral data within the system. However, we do not connect this with personal data such as address, e-mail etc. It is important that we know what a user wants, we also use this information for targeted advertising, but we do not create "transparent" Profile to specific people, only to users. In between is a token system for anonymization. We are creating a European solution and in this respect we also want to live up to our values when it comes to data protection.”
Partner system with advantages for publishers
Unlike Google, they want to offer publishers certain advantages over content through a partner system. On the one hand, of course, traffic through clicks on the articles displayed on the platform. In addition, the publishers receive sales proportionally according to the reach of their content. The users to whom advertisements are shown should ensure the platform's income. But that is only possible if the media companies work together, says Böhm. It should then be possible to consume conventional content, but also premium content, directly on the platform. For legal reasons, there is currently only a link to the content. In the future, the content should be completely accessible within Newsadoo, across all output formats and centrally managed, says the CEO.
The smart people behind the “Spotify for News”. (Image: © 2018 Newsadoo)
“We developed Newsadoo to create a comprehensible solution for the diverse European media landscape. Of course, it will only be a successful solution that Google, Facebook and Co. can counter in Europe if the publishers gradually follow suit. We're going to start, have developed the system, and will now take one step at a time and try to get the publishers on board, ”said Böhm.
Start with a focus on Austria
Even if Newsadoo is not only reserved for users from Austria, the company would like to start with advertising campaigns specifically on Upper Austria. Corresponding campaigns, such as advertising on various platforms, are already underway. The system will run in a free beta version for all users until autumn. The other features and premium versions will be activated with the start in autumn. Until then, you want to keep developing and adapting the system.
An exciting one Proproject to finally escape from the companies from the USA, such as Google or Facebook. Since Austria is in the EU, there are also stricter data protection guidelines and data controls than the competition. We stay up to date and will Procontinue to pursue the project - after all, an exciting topic with artificial intelligence in news.
Sounds good, but the whole system can only work if you become a data collector like Facebook yourself. I will therefore not use it.
But a friendly team with a lot of potential - still not for me. Sorry!