Jimmy Maymann, President, Content and Consumer Brands, AOL and former CEO, The Huffington post, explores key trends and pressures in a shifting media landscape. Jimmy Maymann was the guest speaker at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism's Memorial Lecture, 2015.

1. Re-shaping the online media
industry
T h e s h i ft fr o m d es t i n at i o n t o d i s t r i b u t ed m ed i a
Jimmy Maymann
President, Content and Consumer
Brands, AOL
@maymann

2. 2
I will use my time as CEO of the Huffington Post
as a case study for changes in online media
Director and Global Discipline Head,
Leo Burnett
Global responsibility for all
client’s ‘New Media’
touchpoints
Co-founder, CEO, Chairman
GoViral
Co-founded premier
branded video partner for
publishers
CEO
The Huffington Post
Expanded brand to 15
international markets
while growing new
business opportunities
President, Content and Consumer Brands
AOL
Leading development of
AOL’s content strategy and
OTT across portfolio of
brands
2000 – 2005
2006 – 2011
2012 - 2015
2015 – current
Focus of today

3. The online media industry has changed rapidly,
undergoing four distinct shifts
Launch
2005
From desktop to mobile
DEVICE SHIFT
2
From text to video
FORMAT SHIFT
3
Direct
mid-1990s
Social
2010
Search
mid-2000s
SOURCE OF CONSUMPTION SHIFT
1
PLATFORM CONSUMPTION SHIFT
4
Distributed Media
2015

4. Source shift: Technological advances
fundamentally changed content discovery
1
Direct
mid-1990s
Social
2010
Search
mid-2000s
SOURCE OF CONSUMPTION SHIFT
1

5. 5
Annual
Google
search
queries
(billions)
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
2000
2004
2008
2012
9B
86.1B
584.5B
1,216B
GOOGLE
SEARCH
INNOVATIONS
2001
PageRank
Algorithm
ranks
sites
based
on
relevance
2007
Universal
Blends
results
like
Images
and
News
2009
Real-­‐Time
Latest
from
social
media,
blogs
etc
56%
growth
each
year
SEARCH ACTIVITY EXPLODES ON THE INTERNET AS IT
BECOMES A MORE EFFECTIVE WAY TO FIND INFORMATION
48%
29%
15%
6%
2%
AS
A
RESULT,
DIRECT
TRAFFIC
BECOMES
LESS
IMPORTANT
AS
A
SOURCE
OF
TRAFFIC
Organic
search
Direct
Referrals
Paid
search
Social
Average
source
of
traffic,
total
internet,
2008
1
Google’s algorithm made search a primary
source of traffic for publishers

6. 6
Facebook popularized social media, which
becomes the number one online activity
1
Social media becomes the largest source of traffic for content sites – accounting for between
30-50% of external entries
FACEBOOK LAUNCHES IN 2004 GROWING
RAPIDLY AND SPAWNING A NEW GENRE OF
ONLINE ACTIVITY…
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
2004:
Facebook
launches
2006:
Open
to
everyone
2009:
Introduces
‘Likes’
Shares
2013:
Search
feature
enabled
2014:
Adds
Trending
Topics
Facebook
Paper
2012:
Passes
1Bn
Ac^ve
Users
Facebook Active Users (millions)
.. AND WHILE USER GROWTH IS SLOWING,
GROWTH IN NUMBER OF NETWORKS SHOWS
DIVERSITY OF USE
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
US social network users (millions); logos show users over 50M
165M
158M
150M
140M
127M
109M
85M
Social media is 1 in 4
minutes spent online

7. 7
Social discovery is more dynamic, creating
higher engagement for longer
1
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
Posts on-platform only
Posts on social media
Page views per hour, social media vs platform-only
12 604836240
Hours since posting
Additional 24 hours of
‘long tail’ engagement
Total: 41K
Total: 7K
Greater opportunities to
improve performance
Note: Analysis does not normalize for story selection, which would tend to favor social media as more popular stories tend to be promoted. Not expected to change result

8. HuffPost editors monitor post performance data in real-time
5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM 3:00 AM 5:00 AM 7:00 AM 9:00 AM 11:00 AM 1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM 3:00 AM 5:00 AM 7:00 AM 9:00 AM 11:00 AM 1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM
Headline revised and
additional pictures
added in listicle format9am
2,600,000social actions in 24 hours
Story posted at 5pm
with text and link to
further information5pm
“At The Huffington Post, the
process doesn’t end once you hit
publish; that’s when it begins”
The New York Times
Digital Innovation Report 2014
Increasingly dynamic engagement
enhanced real-time data imperative
1

9. Device shift: Shift to mobile changes
audience behaviors and content needs
Direct
mid-1990s
Social Media
2010
Search
mid-2000s
SOURCE OF CONSUMPTION SHIFT
1
Launch
2005
From desktop to mobile
DEVICE SHIFT
2
2

10. 10
Mobile use accelerates to quickly become
‘the first screen’ of digital media
2
SMARTPHONES
ARE
NOW
THE
DOMINANT
DEVICE
FOR
ACCESSING
THE
INTERNET,
IN
TERMS
OF
ENGAGEMENT
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
166
Desktop
278
242
201
Time
spent
with
major
media,
by
device
(mins
per
day)
Mobile
303
Mobile
%
14%
21%
39%
49%
56%
…A
TREND
WE
ARE
ALSO
SEEING
AT
HUFFPOST
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
2015
Desktop
Page
views,
by
device
Mobile
51%

11. 11
0
25
50
Changes in news consumption (mins per day)
Shid
from
desktop
to
mobile
(increase
in
mobile)
Shid
from
print
to
online
(decrease
in
print)
2006(Online)
2008(Mobile)
2014(Online)
2016F(Mobile)
42
39
2
5
2010(Online)
2012(Mobile)
32
36
25
31
21
27
14
24
7
20
4
15
3
11
Shid
from
desktop
to
mobile
will
be
greater
than
shid
from
print
to
online
at
equivalent
point
in
^me
Shift to mobile shaping up as impactful
than shift to print for audience behavior
2

12. Na^ve
apps
Key
traffic
source:
Direct
(i.e.
app
downloads)
Average
audience
size/mth:
3M
UVs
Average
^me
spent/mth:
113
mins/UV
Average
monthly
engagement:
330
mins
47%
total
mobile
engagement
12
Mobile traffic consists of two channels, each
with very different characteristics
Mobile
web
Third
party
referrals
(i.e.
social
networks)
39M
UVs
9
mins/UV
370
mins
13x
11x
53%
total
mobile
engagement
Note:
Figures
show
2014
results
averaged
for
top
5
online
news
sites
per
comScore
2

13. STRATEGY
VALIDATED
BY
CONTINUING
GROWTH
IN
APP
USAGE
ACROSS
INDUSTRY
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
News
apps
Music
apps
Games
apps
49%
33%
30%
Growth
in
^me
spent,
by
app
category
(2014)
13
ALL
MAJOR
PUBLISHERS
HAVE
RELEASED
OR
ARE
RELEASING
MULTIPLE
SPECIALIZED
APPS
FLAGSHIP:
Full coverage
news app
NYT NOW:
Breaking and
popular
THE SCOOP:
NY information
entertainment
FLAGSHIP:
Full coverage
app
CUTE OR NOT:
User uploaded pet
pictures and voting
NEWS APP:
Original and
aggregated news
FLAGSHIP:
Full coverage
news app
VIDEO:
Video-centric
coverage
REALTIME
Newsfeed-based
‘news junkie’ app
Enhanced engagement responsible for
rapid proliferation of news apps
2

14. 14
68% mobile
Time on mobile
1,350M MAU
2004 20132006 2010 2011
Proportion of total time spent on mobile (%)
Launch year
86% mobile
290M MAU
98% mobile
300M MAU
99% mobile
20M MAU
100% mobile
100M MAU
92% mobile
80M MAU
Mobile web is driven by social media which
has become increasingly mobile-focused
2

15. 15
To counter this, we optimized our page
design to enhance engagement
2
HuffPost
“ ”
IMPROVE
INTERNAL
ENGAGEMENT
Beer
u=lize
screen
size
and
harness
tac=le
func=onality
of
mobile
touch
screen
to
improve
access
to
content
Enhanced
scrolling
Example:
U^liza^on
of
con^nuous
scroll
enhanced
recircula^on
module
on
scroll-­‐up
drives
bemer
engagement
Be?er
swiping
Example:
Build
on
exis^ng
swiping
to
access
bemer
recircula^on
modules
and
more
content
More
video
Example:
Enhance
seamlessness
of
video
player
on
page
IMPROVE
SOCIAL
INTEGRATION
Tailoring
content
in
a
way
that
integrates
our
user
experience
deeper
within
social
network
experience
Responsive
social
referral
Examples:
Dynamic
page
design
to
tailor
content
to
style
matching
referring
social
media
(e.g.
more
visual
content
when
coming
from
Pinterest)
Atomized
content
sharing
Example:
Enables
users
to
engage
with
specific
parts
of
content
to
bemer
personalize
sharing
capabili^es
Passive
personalizaIon
Con^nue
to
pair
improved
page
func^onality
with
effec^ve
passive
personaliza^on
technology

16. Format shift: Growth of video changes
process and focus of content production
Direct
mid-1990s
Social Media
2010
Search
mid-2000s
SOURCE OF CONSUMPTION SHIFT
1
Launch
2005
From desktop to mobile
DEVICE SHIFT
2
From text to video
FORMAT SHIFT
3
3

17. 17
Format shift: Demand for online video
viewing is rapidly growing
3
Digital video viewed per person per day (mins)
0
20
40
60
80
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
% mobile 14% 25% 42% 48% 51%
21
36
50
63
76
Annual growth
11-15
38%
20%
90%
Desktop
Mobile

18. 18
Format shift: greater numbers of devices
provide greater access
3
Total
71%
71%
4%
6%
4%
56%
of
millennials
^me
watching
‘TV’
is
not
on
TV
Time
spent
watching
TV
or
movies,
by
device
Trailing
millennials
Leading
millennials
Genera^on
X
Baby
boomers
Matures
92%
88%
76%
53%
44%
5%
8%
15%
7%
9%
4%
8%
7%
6%
23%
32%
5%
9%
8%

19. 19
Format shift: Companies like Netflix
capitalize on this trend as TV loses share
3
6%
quarter-
on-quarter
-1%
quarter-
on-quarter
Comcast/
Time Warner
combined
Netflix
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Q4
2011
Q1
2012
Q2
2012
Q3
2012
Q4
2012
Q1
2013
Q2
2013
Q3
2013
Q4
2013
Q1
2014
US subscribers (M)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Q4
2011
Q1
2012
Q2
2012
Q3
2012
Q4
2012
Q1
2013
Q2
2013
Q3
2013
Q4
2013
Q1
2014
VIDEO ON DEMAND
4x increase in
VOD content in
last 5 years
BINGE RELEASES
Multiple full series
releases, not
week-by-week

20. 20
Supply is also expanding greatly with a new
genre of ‘YouTube stars’ competing with TV
3
LOW PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION COSTS
FOR ‘YOUTUBE STARS’ CREATING NEW GENRE
$0
$2
$4
$6
HBO
Neqlix
FOX
AMC
MCN
Hourly cost of production ($M)
$5.0M
$4.0M
$3.5M
$3.0M
$0.1M
…
THESE
LOW
COST
CREATORS
ARE
GETTING
VIEWS
AT
LARGER
SCALE
THAN
TRADITIONAL
PLAYERS
0 50 100 150 200
CBS
Com
cast
Fulls
cree
Vime
o
VEV
O
Mak
er
Goo
gle
Online video audiences (April 2015) M, comScore
153M
44M
43M
37M
34M
33M
30M
Driven
by
low-­‐
cost
content

21. 21
We have built video operations into three
distinct tiers of video content
3
PREMIUM
LICENSED
CONTENT
Premium partnerships with top
content producers distributed
across our properties e.g. NBC
Universal
USER-GENERATED CONTENT
Content generated by users and
contributed to our sites e.g.
Outspeak video journalism
ORIGINAL CONTENT
Live and on demand original
content e.g. HuffPost Live 8
hours per day of streaming
content

22. 22
Organizationally, we externally incubated
HPL to drive video excellence
4
HUFFPOST VIDEO DESIGNED AS TWO DISTINCT
BUT COMPLEMENTARY ORGANIZATIONS …
HUFFINGTON POST
Editorial
News politics Entertainment Lifestyle Impact
innovation
HuffPost original video
HUFFPOST STUDIOS
HuffPost
TV
Flash-cam
HuffPost Live
streaming
Editorial guidance
and distribution
Video production
and operations
… EACH BRINGING DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT
SKILLSETS TO VIDEO PRODUCTION
Deep expertise of editorial direction, audience
dynamics and distributed content strategy
Leveraging existing audience to deliver high
video views per video
Capabilities in rapid, short-form video
production
Deep understanding of video-based storytelling
and technical production
Building new audience on-site and across third
party (e.g. OTT) platforms
Capabilities in high-end video programming and
production
+

23. Platform shift: Each of these macro trends
combine to grow distributed content
Direct
mid-1990s
Social Media
2010
Search
mid-2000s
SOURCE OF CONSUMPTION SHIFT
1
Launch
2005
From desktop to mobile
DEVICE SHIFT
2
From text to video
FORMAT SHIFT
3
4
PLATFORM CONSUMPTION SHIFT
4
Distributed Media
2015

24. Platform shift: Demographics illustrate the
clear shift towards distributed content
4
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Baby
boomers
Genera^on
X
Leading
millennials
Trailing
millennials
Preferred
sources
of
media,
by
demographic
9%
24%
33%
51%
%
distributed
Distributed
Direct
More
than
50%
of
people
aged
14-­‐25
find
media
through
distributed
sources
Increasing
propor^on
of
future
news
audience
Source:
Deloime
Digital
Democracy
Survey

25. Social is the most important of distributed
sources
4
…AND SOCIAL REFERRALS ARE THE LARGEST
SOURCE OF TRAFFIC TO HUFFPOST
%
referrals
from
social
~10% ~20% ~30%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Social
All other
Multiplatform external referrrals, by source
2013 2014 2015
SOCIAL MEDIA IS #1 ONLINE ACTIVITY, DRIVEN
BY PARTICULARLY HIGH USAGE ON MOBILE…
Daily time spent on social media (mins)
298 21
Daily
minutes
on social
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Desktop Mobile Total
Social
media
News
ent’ ment
Comms
Games
Commerce
Search

26. ‘The deal’: Publishers and social platforms
have a symbiotic relationship
4
600
daily
posts
350
daily
posts
370
daily
posts
300
daily
posts
…PUBLISHERS PROVIDE CONTENT IN ORDER TO
ACCESS LARGE AND ENGAGED AUDIENCES
“The deal”
Content
Traffic
1.5B
monthly
users
300
monthly
users
320M
monthly
users
200
monthly
users
NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT IS THE SECOND
BIGGEST DRIVER OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE…
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
To share details
of my personal life
Share photos
and videos
Share my
opinion
Find entertaining
content
Keep up-to-date
with news
Stay in touch
with friends
55%
27%
38%
39%
39%
41%
Publisher
input
Top reasons for using social media

27. However, platforms are increasingly
creating their own native solutions
4
TRADITIONAL
SITUATION
Publisher creates
text or video
Publisher
provides related
content
Advertising on
publisher site
Link back to
publisher site
Posted content
matched to
audience
PUBLISHERPLATFORM
Create content
Match content
to audiences
Display
content
Recommend
further
content
Serve
advertising
Key change in publisher/
platform relationship
EMERGING
SITUATION
PUBLISHERPLATFORM
Publisher creates
text or video
Publisher
provides related
content
Platform sells
ads on platform
Content hosted
on platform
template
Posted content
matched to
audience
Create content
Match content
to audiences
Display
content
Recommend
further
content
Serve
advertising

28. In addition to monetization, platforms are
seeking to capitalize on key macro trends
4
More
social
on
mobile
+125%
greater
traffic
source
Site
entries
by
source
of
traffic
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Desktop
Mobile
Social
Search
Other
Social
Search
Other
More
video
on
mobile
30%
annual
growth
of
=me
on
mobile
video
Video
minutes
on
mobile
per
person
per
day
0
10
20
30
40
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
3
mins
9
mins
21
mins
30
mins
39
mins
0
2
4
Q3
2014
Q4
2014
Q1
2015
Daily
video
views
on
Facebook
(B)
1B
3B
4B
More
video
on
social
300%
growth
in
last
year
2
Video
Increasing
our
video
inventory
3
Social
Broadening
plaKorm
coverage
1
Mobile
Adap=ng
to
changing
audience
behavior
Distributed content

29. Overall, these programs also offer multiple
positive opportunities for publishers
4
SOURCES OF REFERRAL TRAFFIC
Instant
articles
Moments -
Enriched
native
formatting
Curated
news
content
No
announced
program
NO SOURCE OF REFERRAL TRAFFIC
- Discover
Apple
News
No
announced
program
Enriched
native
formatting
Curated
news
content
Traffic
impact
Negative Likely
minimal
n/a Uncertain
(impact on direct apps)
- n/a
Emerging
concerns
Potential
upsides
INSUFFICIENT
DATA SHARING
LESS
UX CONTROL
REDUCED
MONETIZATION
INSUFFICIENT
DATA SHARING
LESS
UX CONTROL
INSUFFICIENT
DATA SHARING
INSUFFICIENT
DATA SHARING
IMPROVED
ENGAGEMENT
IMPROVED BRAND
EXPOSURE
IMPROVED
MONETIZATION
IMPROVED BRAND
EXPOSURE
IMPROVED
ENGAGEMENT
-
-
-
--
- -
-
-
-
-
-

30. However, publishers must actively manage
this shift in three key ways
4
CREATE PURPOSEFUL CONTENT STRATEGY
Publishers must have a clear platform-by-platform content
strategy
- Content designed specifically to resonate on specific platforms
- Content production prioritizing video to capitalize on industry trends
1
ACTIVELY MANAGE DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
Publishers must actively manage on-platform sources of
traffic
- Enhance direct traffic by prioritizing app development
- Enhance search by adapting to initiatives such as Google mobile
acceleration
2
ENHANCE PREMIUM MONETIZATION CAPABILITIES
Publishers must enhance premium monetization
capabilities off-platform
- Non-ad served strategies such as native content and sponsorships
- Partnership deals that sufficiently deliver monetization and data
capabilities
3

31. Ultimately this is an extension of the
evolution we have seen in online media
4
Print
newspapers
Shift to online
(Desktop)
Shift to
mobile
Shift to
distributed
2000s- 2010- 2015-
Sub-standard response to
industry shift
• Replicate print paper
online
• Replicate desktop site
on mobile
• Replicate on-platform
content across
channels
More successful response • Innovate to enhance
audience interaction
(i.e. comments),
adjust editorial
processes and
content for different
style of audience
engagement
• Innovate to enhance
content and page
functionality
capabilities for
different devices
• Innovate to tailor
content and
monetization strategy
on a platform-by-
platform basis

32. HuffPost success is due to its adaptation to
each stage of the media evolution
Direct
mid-1990s
Social Media
2010
Search
mid-2000s
Launch
2005
SOURCE OF CONSUMPTION SHIFT
1
PLATFORM CONSUMPTION SHIFT
4
From desktop to mobile
DEVICE SHIFT
2
From text to video
FORMAT SHIFT
3
Distributed Media
2015
Prioritize technology in
order to monitor and
improve performance in
real time
1
Product
innovation
adapt to
fundamental
changes in
audience
behavior
2
Organizational innovation to help
accelerate new production3
Emphasize
partnerships
to adapt to
changing
market
dynamics
4

33. Thank you
Jimmy Maymann
President, Content and Consumer
Brands, AOL
@maymann