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Blendle has launched a new mobile app that lets users read digital versions of hundreds of print publications in one place.
The app is available for both iOS and Android, according to The Verge. The app lets users preview a publication by scrolling through headlines and then requires a micro-transaction of 10 cents to 80 cents in order to access a story. Each publishers sets its own price and keeps 70% of the revenue from the transaction, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Blendle hosts digital versions of full print publications from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Financial Times, and nearly 300 other media companies.
Axel Springer, the parent company of Business Insider and BI Intelligence, is an investor in Blendle.
Blendle has been relatively successful in Europe since it launched in 2014 in the Netherlands and 2015 in Germany. The service attracted 650,000 registered users in those nations (half of whom are under age 35), and those users read millions of articles per month.
Micro-transactions are one way in which publishers have tried to generate alternative revenue as more consumers install ad-blockers. Blendle could provide a way for U.S. publishers to test this approach without pouring resources into a campaign. Plus, publishers must get their consumers used to micro-payments if the business model will ever truly catch on and generate significant revenue.
This is increasingly important in the face of ad-blockers, which stop ads from appearing on websites, search, and social networks. This software is catching on in the U.S., as ad-block monthly active users totaled 45 million in the US as of June 2015, increasing nearly 50% from last year, according to PageFair and Adobe.
So what does that mean for publishers? How will they try to reach you as more users install ad-blockers?
BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on ad-blocking that looks at ad block usage rates, discusses Apple's ad block software and how it could make ad blocking more common on mobile, and examines solutions for publishers.
There are several solutions that publishers can use to combat the growing ad-block problem, including education, technical solutions, and micropayments. Which solution publishers should opt for can be determined by their particular ad-block usage rates.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:
In full, the report:
To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:
The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of ad-blocking.