👨‍⚖️ Google Judge & Jury

The acquisition of media.com, Google’s remarks on authority, and a package of 6 newsletters

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Chris Young & Richard Patey
October 05, 2023

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Hi there 👋,

Welcome to the third issue of Media Assets, brought to you by Chris Young and Richard Patey, keeping you up-to-date with the world of digital media assets.

In today’s issue, we discuss:

  • The acquisition of media.com

  • Google’s remarks on authority

  • Platform risk

  • A package of 6 newsletters

  • A new way to get millions of daily impressions

Google’s Judge & Jury On Authority

There’s still lots of chatter around on Google’s recent Helpful Content Update (discussed last week) which has devastated many previously successful niche sites who thought they were producing, well, helpful content.

Instead they now find themselves outranked by (in their view) low-quality user-generated content from the likes of Reddit and Quora.

So what gives?

One clue comes from this recent Twitter exchange between one of our favourite commentators, Anne Moss of yeys.com, and Google’s John Mu.

John states how there are ‘authority’ blogs written by people who are not an authority, and Anne responds asking why should Google be so judgmental:

Anne’s point is valid - why does the writer’s motivation or prior knowledge matter if the content is great?

Regardless, this plays into our larger point from last week of owning your audience rather than renting it. Don’t be at the mercy or the whims of platforms

You can read Anne’s passionate defence of niche Sites in her follow-up post:

Niche Sites And Their Role in the Internet Ecosystem - Yeys.com

That’s a very big title there, I know. But I think it’s something web publishers need to address at this point.

yeys.com/niche-sites-and-their-role-in-the-internet-ecosystem

No-Fluff Marketing Industry News & Insights

We all agree marketing is the lifeblood of every business.

But are you wondering which new customer acquisition channels brands are finding success with? Trying to figure out how to create landing pages that actually convert clicks into customers? Debating on taking Tik Tok seriously or not?

Well more than 72,000+ world class CEOs, Founders, & Marketers are getting the answers to all of those questions and more by simply reading Growth Daily for 5 minutes every morning!

Dubbed “The WSJ of marketing” by its readers, Growth Daily delivers the most impactful news, tips, tools, and insights for all things business growth!

Huge End-User Domain Acquisition

Axios reported that James Mawhinney has invested $20M into the acquisition of the media.com domain name and brand, to use for his reputational management platform.

Elliot Silver from DomainInvesting.com reached out to James for a comment:

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“The domain name Media.com is integral to building a premium global media brand. It took months of sourcing and negotiation. We are delighted to have come up with a business and a domain name that we expect millions of people will benefit immensely from.”

James Mawhinney

A release by GlobalNewswire also discusses how you can leverage such a powerful domain:

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The brand name and ability to share and respond to a vast variety of content on Media.com will boost user profiles in search engine results, which is critical for controlling and prominently surfacing narratives and responses that counter misinformation or reputationally harmful content.

James Mawhinney

Whether or not the reputation management business will be successful at controlling misinformation, the domain on which it sits is an incredible asset.

Platform Risk

Not only should you own your audience and diversify away from Google, you should do the same with any platform that is giving the majority of your traffic.

Axios just posted a chart showing how referral traffic from Meta and X have fallen dramatically over the last year:

A Bundle of Newsletters

Scott Oldford from Wisdom Media is selling 6 newsletters:

The listing is on Duuce with a $330K list price but is open to a reduced price for a quick buyer.

📰 Classifieds

Online Magazine Blueprint: Discover 300 profitable niches to launch a successful paid magazine, in this free guide by Chris. Get your copy

The Newsletter Is The Business: Learn how to launch a newsletter as a separate media asset, in this product by Richard. Check it out

Want 4.7M Impressions?

It will only cost you $450K at the new MSG Sphere in Vegas:

Newsletter Shoutout of the Week

Acquiring Media AssetsDiscover the best media assets for sale.

Ok that’s it for this week, give us a reply if you have any suggestions or comments…

Cheers!