IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jindec/v68y2020i4p780-818.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local News Online: Aggregators, Geo‐Targeting and the Market for Local News

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa M. George
  • Christiaan Hogendorn

Abstract

We examine how placement of geo‐targeted local news links on Google News affected local news consumption. Using a sample of news visits by 36,876 U.S. households before and after a Google News design change, we find that aggregation increased the level and share of local news consumed online. Magnitudes are modest: consumption of local news among heavy Google News users rose by 25% after the redesign, but from a low base. Geo‐targeting increased weekly consumption variety and reduced concentration among local outlets but did not raise overall consumption variety, suggesting that aggregators play a limited role in product discovery.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa M. George & Christiaan Hogendorn, 2020. "Local News Online: Aggregators, Geo‐Targeting and the Market for Local News," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(4), pages 780-818, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jindec:v:68:y:2020:i:4:p:780-818
    DOI: 10.1111/joie.12245
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joie.12245
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joie.12245?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alaoui, Larbi & Germano, Fabrizio, 2020. "Time scarcity and the market for news," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 173-195.
    2. Lesley Chiou & Catherine Tucker, 2017. "Content aggregation by platforms: The case of the news media," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 782-805, December.
    3. George, Lisa M. & Hogendorn, Christiaan, 2012. "Aggregators, search and the economics of new media institutions," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 40-51.
    4. Kennedy, Peter E, 1981. "Estimation with Correctly Interpreted Dummy Variables in Semilogarithmic Equations [The Interpretation of Dummy Variables in Semilogarithmic Equations]," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(4), pages 801-801, September.
    5. Doh-Shin Jeon & Nikrooz Nasr, 2016. "News Aggregators and Competition among Newspapers on the Internet," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 91-114, November.
    6. Babur De Los Santos & Ali Hortacsu & Matthijs R. Wildenbeest, 2012. "Testing Models of Consumer Search Using Data on Web Browsing and Purchasing Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2955-2980, October.
    7. Lisa M. George & Joel Waldfogel, 2006. "The New York Times and the Market for Local Newspapers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 435-447, March.
    8. George Lisa M, 2008. "The Internet and the Market for Daily Newspapers," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-33, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joan Calzada & Nestor Duch-Brown & Ricard Gil, 2021. "Do search engines increase concentration in media markets?," UB School of Economics Working Papers 2021/415, University of Barcelona School of Economics.
    2. Du, Kai & Song, Jinyuan, 2022. "The impact of geotargeting on household information acquisition: Evidence from a Google News redesign," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    3. Alexandre de Cornière & Miklos Sarvary, 2023. "Social Media and News: Content Bundling and News Quality," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 162-178, January.
    4. Tim Meyer & Anna Kerkhof & Carmelo Cennamo & Tobias Kretschmer, 2022. "Competing for Attention on Information Platforms: The Case of News," CESifo Working Paper Series 9832, CESifo.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexandre de Cornière & Miklos Sarvary, 2023. "Social Media and News: Content Bundling and News Quality," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 162-178, January.
    2. Julia Cagé & Nicolas Hervé & Marie-Luce Viaud, 2020. "The Production of Information in an Online World," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 87(5), pages 2126-2164.
    3. Alaoui, Larbi & Germano, Fabrizio, 2020. "Time scarcity and the market for news," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 173-195.
    4. Joan Calzada & Guillem Ordóñez, 2012. "Competition in the news industry: fighting aggregators with versions and links," Working Papers 12-22, NET Institute.
    5. Baker, Matthew J. & George, Lisa M., 2024. "The news hour: Welfare estimation in the market for local television news," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    6. Jeon, Doh-Shin, 2018. "Economics of News Aggregators," TSE Working Papers 18-912, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    7. Lesley Chiou & Catherine Tucker, 2017. "Content aggregation by platforms: The case of the news media," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 782-805, December.
    8. Go, Geoffrey, 2021. "News Media, Digital Platforms and Content Sharing," Warwick-Monash Economics Student Papers 23, Warwick Monash Economics Student Papers.
    9. Joan Calzada & Ricard Gil, 2020. "What Do News Aggregators Do? Evidence from Google News in Spain and Germany," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(1), pages 134-167, January.
    10. Julia Cagé & Nicolas Hervé & Marie-Luce Viaud, 2020. "The Production of Information in an Online World," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(5), pages 2126-2164.
    11. Francesco Sobbrio, 2014. "The political economy of news media: theory, evidence and open issues," Chapters, in: Francesco Forte & Ram Mudambi & Pietro Maria Navarra (ed.), A Handbook of Alternative Theories of Public Economics, chapter 13, pages 278-320, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Julia Cage & Nicolas Hervé & Marie-Luce Viaud, 2017. "The Production of Information in an Online World: Is Copy Right?," Working Papers hal-03393171, HAL.
    13. Cagé, Julia, 2017. "Media Competition, Information Provision and Political Participation: Evidence from French Local Newspapers and Elections, 1944," CEPR Discussion Papers 12198, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Tim Meyer & Anna Kerkhof & Carmelo Cennamo & Tobias Kretschmer, 2022. "Competing for Attention on Information Platforms: The Case of News," CESifo Working Paper Series 9832, CESifo.
    15. Catarina Sismeiro & Ammara Mahmood, 2018. "Competitive vs. Complementary Effects in Online Social Networks and News Consumption: A Natural Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(11), pages 5014-5037, November.
    16. Charles Angelucci & Julia Cagé & Michael Sinkinson, 2024. "Media Competition and News Diets," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 62-102, May.
    17. Cho, Daegon & Smith, Michael D. & Zentner, Alejandro, 2016. "Internet adoption and the survival of print newspapers: A country-level examination," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 13-19.
    18. Oliver Falck & Robert Gold & Stephan Heblich, 2014. "E-lections: Voting Behavior and the Internet," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(7), pages 2238-2265, July.
    19. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3tcpvf3sd399op9sgtn8tq5bhd is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Bertin Martens & Luis Aguiar & Estrella Gomez Herrera & Frank Muller, 2018. "The digital transformation of news media and the rise of disinformation and fake news," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2018-02, Joint Research Centre.
    21. Julia Cage & Nicolas Hervé & Marie-Luce Viaud, 2017. "The Production of Information in an Online World: Is Copy Right?," Working Papers hal-03393171, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jindec:v:68:y:2020:i:4:p:780-818. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-1821 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.