The recent news that Dun & Bradstreet purchased data-dealer turned data management service provider NetProspex further advances two seemingly contradictory corporate storylines for the B2B data industry’s bellwether. This may be another in D&B’s string of acquisitions designed to buy the company’s way into the future. Or, this could be

This is blog post was inspired by posts by Mitchell Davis of The Privacy Rights Council. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union (EU) law coming into effect on May 25th 2018. It’s intended to protect the data privacy of EU residents, including the export of personal

Microsoft didn’t expect the web scrapers to fight back. It seemed so obvious to the massive multinational firm: We own the LinkedIn content that we paid billions of dollars to acquire. What Microsoft didn’t realize (and not for the first time*) was that the people who created the content were

Changing an information service’s business model is risky business. If you built your model the right way, there are several revenue streams (multiple advertising opportunities based on a variety of delivery devices, multiple subscription options based on delivery frequency and the volume/type of content, ecommerce hooks of every conceivable type)

A recent article in the SF Chronicle gave a vivid, very visual, demonstration of the power access to “public” data can have in municipal policy debates. The story covered companies that match buyers and sellers of services often heavily taxed by municipalities: taxis and hotels. Specifically, it looked at their

It’s no surprise to anyone that print directories are being retired in the face of the seismic shift to electronic information services. I’m not one to wax nostalgic about this, especially since I’ve worked hard to bring about this shift! Since many of us are participating in this publishing industry

At the recent SIPA Conference data content industry expert Russell Perkins delved into the current transformation of our industry. He offered some head-turning statistics confirming what many of us know already: data product business models are highly stable and very profitable. He then went on to explore current trends in

Starting a new information service is hard. Customer expectations are sky high and they’ll pay top dollar only if the information is unique and timely and the software tools bundled with the information are top notch. That means a lot of upfront expense and a significant gamble on the part

These days, advertising technology (both serving and blocking) is generating a lot of discussion. Most falls into two categories: “I Hate Ads” and “Publishers are Screwed.” Both approaches add zero to the very real discussions about new models for delivering content held behind closed doors at the major content creation

Back in 1986 I was fortunate to be exposed to a network of publishing professionals eager to share their knowledge with their fellow colleagues via what was then called The Newsletter Association. A few decades later this same group (now called the Specialized Information Providers Association) carries on this important