The squalor of online marketing never seems to end. This week a conspiracy of over 200,000 fake reviewers for third party products sold on Amazon was reported by PC magazine. According to the report researchers found "over 13 million records and 7GB of data, including direct messages between Amazon vendors and customers who provided fake review scores." Here's how the scheme works. Crooked vendors publish a list of products they want a five star review for. Customers sign up to provide the review. They buy the product using PayPal, send in a five star review and then provide proof to the vendor that the

New York Post March 4, 2021 Booksellers say they were completely caught off guard when Dr. Seuss’s publisher yanked six books for racially offensive imagery this week in a move that’s only served to send sales skyrocketing. James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble, only learned of the move by Dr. Seuss Enterprises when a journalist called him at the bookseller’s London offices. “At first, I had no idea what he was talking about,” Daunt told Media Ink. Nonetheless, he and other booksellers, including Jeff Bezos’s online behemoth Amazon, have benefited tremendously as fans (and a smattering of profiteers) have used the prohibition as an excuse to rush

Mr. Magazine February 4, 2021 In any industry or profession, without new birth, products, ideas, or people, there is no growth. If you’re not growing, if you’re not introducing new blood to the mix of what you have, you’re dying incrementally. And the lifecycle and growth of magazines aren’t any different than any other lifecycle. Yes, magazines come and magazines go, but just because one magazine folds it doesn’t mean the entire print medium is dying. And while in the last 20 years the number of consumer magazines in this country aimed at the general public has remained steady, averaging at around 7,000

Subscription Insider December 23, 2020 Meredith Corporation is returning to the subscription model and expanding the Rachael Ray In Season magazine to home delivery, starting with the winter/spring 2021 issue. An annual subscription, which will automatically renew, will cost subscribers $20 for four issues, compared to the newsstand price of $9.99 per issue. Subscriptions are available now for presale at RachaelRayMag.com/Presale, the company said in their December 16 announcement. The next issue will be available at newsstands nationwide on February 12, 2021. Home delivery subscribers will receive their first issue in February. Return to subscription model The change in the magazine’s subscription model is based on the success of

FIPP December 8, 2020 After a ruinous, Covid-blighted year, event organisers are looking to bounce back strongly in 2021 having taken on board some valuable lessons. The effectiveness of social distancing in battling Covid-19 has made 2020 a disastrous year for hosting live events. In March, a strong revenue stream for publishers dried up almost overnight, forcing organisers to create online experiences that satisfied delegates and sponsors. While the arrival of vaccines has brought the return of live events one step closer, it’s clear things will never go back to the way they were and that a fresh, hybrid approach will be needed

WWD October 30, 2020 After launching a perfume and a furniture line, Hearst-owned Cosmopolitan magazine is continuing to expand its footprint outside of traditional print and is entering the wine market. Uncorked by Cosmo is launching Friday in partnership with Napa, Calif.-based Guarachi Wine Vineyards with four varietals — rose, chardonnay, pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon. Each bottle is priced at $14.99 and will be exclusively available at Wine.com. The idea predated the pandemic, but editor in chief Jessica Pels said the timing of the launch is spot on. “Wine is a logical thing for us to make for our consumer regardless…but honestly between the pandemic and the election there feels

New York Post October 27, 2020 Left-leaning investigative magazine Mother Jones has taken another shot at Facebook — this time claiming the social network’s “Big Brother” tactics have cost it jobs. On Monday Mother Jones’ news editor Patrick Caldwell revealed that the news censorship tactics of the social network run by Mark Zuckerberg cost it some $400,000 in lost revenue over the last three years. The $400,000 loss was particularly painful when the company had to reduce payroll to offset the coronavirus, resulting in it laying off six people on its 90 person staff, Caldwell wrote in the urgent appeal to readers for funds. “That $400,000 inevitably

New York Post October 15, 2020 If the media industry were to proclaim one silver lining of the pandemic it would be the book sale boom. Kids books are doing especially well as parents look for ways to keep their tots occupied at a time when playdates are hard to come by. E-book revenues for children and young adult books this year through August have surged 63.2 percent to $83.6 million, according to figures from the Association of American Publishers released this week. Adults also appear to be doing more reading — and listening — at a time when many bars and theaters remain closed

New York Post October 13, 2020 In a rare success story in the midst of the pandemic, a father-daughter team took over a tiny magazine named after Martha Stewart’s hometown of Bedford, NY, and doubled its ad-page count in the first issue. The buyer of the magazine, simply called Bedford, is Michael Kaplan, who has long been active in the commercial real estate world around Westchester. “The housing market is booming,” Kaplan explained of his success with the former TownVibe Media holding, which he renamed Bedford and New Canaan Magazine because it now covers towns in Westchester and Connecticut. The deal was possible due to the pandemic,

MediaPost October 5, 2020 In announcing Google's pledge of $1 billion in licensing payments to news publishers, CEO Sundar Pichair described his early affinity for newspapers as a child growing up India. Every morning at breakfast, he waited for his father and grandfather to finish reading the paper before handing it off to him to devour the latest headlines. It's a heartwarming account of an inter-generational bonding ritual that formed a reverence for journalism and its vital role in a democracy. Sadly, many newspapers have died out amid declining readership and advertising revenue in the past 20 years, a period that coincides with Google's