David Milliron, vice president of media services at Caspio Inc., talks about the benefits newspapers can get from using online database applications.


Milliron
 

What trends do you see emerging for online database applications?

One common trend in online database applications involves the consolidation of databases on a single Web page. The public does not want to scour an entire Web site to find your database offerings. Keep those data sets updated and continue to offer new interactive databases and you will train the public to return to your site for news and information.

The fever for posting online databases is also spilling over into sister-company broadcast Web sites. I am seeing newspapers teaming up with a television station in their same market to consolidate efforts that lead to cross-promotion of Web sites (see related story, page 38).

 

Another trend is to allow readers to interact with many databases via a common interface. This gives readers, for example, the ability to search home sales, school statistics and crime reports by filling in search information one time. The results are interactive and can be commingled with interactive mapping.

We also see publishers looking to outsource the maintenance and delivery of national databases containing hyper-local content to allow syndication across all of their company’s Web sites. It is not only labor intensive but also costly for individual newspapers to obtain and process the same database, particularly with each being responsible for regular updates. By outsourcing these efforts, a company significantly cuts its overhead while being able to offer more robust real-time local content.

How are newspapers using database applications to attract local readers to their Web sites?

I call it “online voyeurism,” and when done right it can become viral. Online readers have a hunger for instant and timely information that includes public databases. Put a public salary database online and your Web clicks will spike. But stop there and your traffic will fade faster than yesterday’s news.

By keeping databases fresh and by rotating content you will train your readers to become dependent on your site not only for news but relevant information. The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union’s Databank site does just that. It is fresh and you always know what is new. And every database has a common look and feel that is inviting to the public.

Other data sets that are an instant hit online are historical lottery numbers, anything school- or crime-related, restaurant guides and inspection reports, property records and home sales, and vital statistic databases.

Why are online database applications becoming important for newspapers?

Newspaper Web sites have too many competitors vying for the same advertising dollars. A spike in traffic here and there is great, but advertisers expect consistent traffic from a well-defined audience.

Databases clearly boost revenues. Link all of your education-related databases from a common Web page, for instance, and commingle them with your local education stories and blogs and other information and you are quickly in a position to deliver a specific demographic to your advertisers. The higher number of searches conducted on the databases, the more advertisements that can be served up to your readers.

In addition to revenues, newspapers are eager to increase their overall online real estate, and database-generated content can help fill that void. For instance, one newspaper recently ran a user-generated contest where readers submitted recipes in specific categories. When the contest ended, the newspaper was able to provide a comprehensive database of user-generated recipes.

What tools are publishers looking for in database applications?

Publishers want online databases that generate audience and traffic. Those databases must be granular, intuitive and easy to navigate. Social networking and interactive mapping features are also important.

Database applications need to be flexible and portable. An application built for one site needs to integrate with multiple sites using a variety of different deployment models including transportable widgets that drive new traffic sources to your Web site. Publishers also expect database applications to integrate with third-party ad servers with little effort.

Publishers are looking for tools that do not require huge upfront costs. More and more publishers are outsourcing the creation and maintenance of their database applications. A relative low entry point with a high return on investment is the mantra for today’s online database publishing world.