Google base their vision on “What could be true 5 years from now?”
Here’s what i think will happen over the next 2 years in the media world.
1. Mobile. Mobile will be 75% of internet traffic in 2016. (ComScore say it’s currently 60%, up from 50% in 2013. Detail.)
2. Native advertising will become the number one source of ad revenue for publishers (detail). Native ads are mobile and social media friendly which makes them a safe bet.
3. User experience. 2014 was the year that subtle interactions such as parallax become the norm for desktop (e.g. Sony) and native apps (e.g. Spotify).
This is the sort of design magic that makes people choose Apple products over their competitors. Soon these tricks will filter into news sites and the mobile web.
4. Someone will finally crack mobile news. Personally, i want this…
- An app that blends tailored and one-size-fits-all content. A 70/30 split is probably about right. The tailoring should be smart enough to auto-magically figure out my interests (without any login or faff).
- An app with a coherent “personality”, but not limited to one publisher. I look at several news sites a day – no one publisher does it all. While an app may focus on one publisher it should aggregate where necessary. Someone else does the story better? Aggregate.
- Content that combines the best of “fast” and “slow” stories. The media equivalent of chocolate-coated broccoli. Not convinced? The data says it drives return visits. (OK, maybe it wasn’t a very good analogy).
5. Video. The rise of video will continue. Cisco estimates that two-thirds of mobile data traffic will be video by 2018. (It’s currently over half). Detail. Guardian have finally cracked video (example). News Corp have bought Storyful. Video is totes engageballs!
6. Bonus prediction… someone will crack crowdsourcing meets curation
