NewsEdge: Enhanced Media Monitoring
Jinfo Blog

By Jan Knight

Abstract

Web-based media monitoring service NewsEdge combines premium and free web sources into one online database that is used by corporate enterprise and government organisations. As well as monitoring over 4,500 free online web sources, in the last 18 months the company has added over 4,000 premium titles including hard-to-find titles, from locations such as Russia, Taiwan, the Baltic and Thailand, with many titles appearing in languages other than English.

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When the world is in turmoil on so many fronts, it’s easy to suffer from news overload in our personal lives. However, with the help of NewsEdge, a media monitoring web service from Acquire Media, we can at least create a strategy for managing, analysing and sharing the information we choose to follow professionally. We can decide what we really need to keep track of, set up our initial monitoring topics and allow ourselves the luxury of not being inundated with information that just isn’t pertinent.

NewsEdge is an award-winning product allowing users from more than 450 global corporate enterprise and government organisations access to real time news sources, around 4,500 free online web sources plus a host of premium sources. These sources emanate from all over the world.

Since 2007 when NewsEdge was purchased by Acquire Media, FreePint has had the opportunity to review the product twice in addition to this time (in 2010 and 2012). The reviews have always been positive and have also included a few comments and suggestions for ongoing improvement, and NewsEdge seems to have been listening to us, and we assume their customers.

I am impressed with the way that NewsEdge keeps growing both in terms of content and functionality.

Continuous Improvement

Media monitoring tools aren’t new and NewsEdge knows it has competition. One of the ways it maintains its value to its customers and status in the industry is in its constant attention to, and seemingly enthusiasm for, improvement. Although sources are added continually, a comment from the last review cited that the geographic coverage outside of North America was lacking. The reviewer and NewsEdge knew this could limit growth and in the last 18 months the company has added over 4,000 premium titles to address this concern. These include over 3,400 hard-to-find titles, from locations such as Russia, Taiwan, the Baltic and Thailand, with approximately two thirds of those titles appearing in languages other than English. An additional 600 titles from other regions including the UK, the Middle East, Asia and India have also been added.

The interface and functionality of the product also continue to evolve and the company’s enhancements in the user interface since the last review are impressive. Examples include the addition of a quick search interface to the already flexible search tools, the addition of a story preview pane so users can save time with an at-a-glance preview, inclusion of a word count in search filters and implementation of a new Newsletter Wizard to guide a user through the Newsletter creation process. They have even added to their classification process by adding People Authority for easier searching and filtering on important names in business.

The product’s multiple search options provide flexibility for all levels of expertise, filtering capabilities are plentiful as are the sharing and distribution of results. NewsEdge is a product that will likely continue to stay ahead of the users’ needs, but, if on occasion it doesn’t, I bet it will do an excellent job listening to its users and responding to their input.

FreePint Subscribers can log in now to find out more about NewsEdge in the Mini Review: NewsEdge.

Editor's Note: Beyond Aggregation

This article is part of the FreePint Topic Series: Beyond Aggregation, which runs from October to November 2013. Register your interest, and you'll get pre-notification of when registration opens for any webinars in this series, as well as a free copy of the FreePint Report: Buyer's Guide on News Content when we publish in November.

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