Yahoo! Upshot: Audience driven content

The traditional media pyramid has been shifting for years now. And as a result of social media, the historical model has been turned upside down and now the masses are dictating the news. (Historically, media - or news - has been designed, developed and pushed from a few at the top to the masses at the bottom.) History is being made before our eyes…..

As reported in the New York Times, Yahoo!  is keeping with the times and officially launched its news service blog “Upshot” this week. What makes this so revolutionary is that its content is generated from search queries and online trending topics – or in other words, putting user generated searches ahead of editorial control.

The news blog will tie directly to consumers current interests, tap into trends quickly and will effectively steer news coverage via an SEO-based news service, driven by content compiled by six bloggers and two editors, from topics triggered by search data from across the Yahoo! network.

For years now, we here @ KWE have watched and discussed how businesses worldwide are filling niches across industries, and how companies can get ahead by curating information for niche interests (2010’s Upside-Down Pyramid: All Hail King Consumer)

As the publishing sector becomes increasingly fragmented, there is a growing need for specialist providers. And Yahoo!’s Upshot is doing just that - creating niche editorial from search engine data. Local news and niche publishing wrapped in hyper-local advertising are said to be the future of profitable media.