Google led the way this month, announcing a significant investment in news and new journalist tools. Onclusive joined up with Reptrak, and Kantar launched their new platform in the UK. In Australia, Streem struck out on its own and Isentia was under attack. November is almost here, and that means its almost Measurement Month.
Google to invest $US 1 Billion in news, launches journalist tools
Google has announced plans for “an initial $US1 billion investment in partnerships with news publishers and the future of news”. The investment comes in the form of the Google News Showcase, which give participating publishers the ability to package the stories that appear within Google’s news products. The News Showcase has now been launched in Brazil and Germany. Google has also launched the Journalist Studio, a suite of new tools to help journalists. First off the rank is Pinpoint, which provides entity extraction across large file sets. There’s also a range of data visualisation tools.
Reptrak joins forces with Onclusive
Reptrak, which produces one of the most robust corporate reputation tracking solutions, has announced a partnership with Onclusive, the media analytics provider. Onclusive CEO Dan Beltramo has stated that there will be multiple stages to the partnership. First, the companies are working to include Onclusive’s media analytics in the RepTrak system, with plans to integrate Reptrak data in the Onclusive offering in the future.
Kantar Media launches Reputation platform
Kantar Media has launched the Kantar Reputation platform into the rather congested UK market. Already available across several European countries, the platform allows PR professionals to plan, target, distribute, monitor and analyse earned media activity across print, online, broadcast and social media. Francis Ingham, Director General of the PRCA and CEO of ICCO, has described Kantar Reputation as the “most comprehensive media monitoring and analysis platform available today”. High praise indeed.
Streem inks new licensing deal
In Australia, Streem has broken ranks with other media monitoring providers to broker a deal of its own with the Copyright Agency, which manages the licensing of news media content in the country. The deal will give Streem access to the broadest set of licensable news and media content in Australia for a fixed percentage payable to publishers. Streem had previously joined with rival media monitors Isentia and Meltwater in taking the Copyright Agency to court in order to seek a cut in copyright fees. This is a long-running dispute in Australia and Streem’s decision to break ranks may point to a possible future solution.
Isentia reports hack
Speaking of Isentia, the company has announced that it has been hit by a cyber security incident, which is disrupting services within its Mediaportal platform. Isentia’s CEO Ed Harrison said, “our priority is to restore full service as soon as possible but until that occurs, we have put processes in place to support our customers”. Guardian Australia reported that the company is subject to a ransomware attack. It has informed customers that it does not know for how long the outages will continue. The Guardian also reports that Isentia staff are unable to access the portal and are manually preparing media reports based on Google searches.
Edelman updates intelligence offering
Last month, we reported that Edelman had launched Edelman CommsTech Solutions in the US. This month, the agency announced the global launch of Edelman Data & Intelligence (DxI). The offer will be home to the firm’s research, data, analytics and machine learning capabilities. It seems to be largely a rebadge of what was there before. But, as the folks at PR Week report, Edelman’s recent moves point to a broader trend of agencies rolling out their own comms tech solutions. Investment in PR tech has traditionally been low, relative to the broader martech space, and it’s great to see more solutions being brought to market.
AMEC’s Measurement Month 
Here in London, November is a dark and often wet month. It’s best suited to settling down in front of a fire with a pot of tea or a glass of wine (or both. I’m not judging). AMEC’s Measurement Month is here to provide some company. Join some of the smartest minds in PR and measurement across a range of virtual events that are sure to enlighten and entertain you. It runs for the entire month, and is a great opportunity to learn about new approaches in measurement. Be sure to share your thoughts, this year’s hashtag is #AMECMM.
Don’t forget to let us know about your measurement moments. Email us – hello@prmeasured.com.