Consumer Reports undergoes makeover

Roger Yu of USA Today writes Tuesday about the overhaul at Consumer Reports that includes a new rating system and various pricing options.

Yu writes, “With fewer readers opting for print magazines, the changes are meant to widen its presence in old and emerging digital platforms. The magazine has never relied on print advertising for revenue, so the print ad market volatility has been less of a factor in its redesign. But more competition is constantly emerging online, providing plenty of free reviews and ratings to shoppers, even if they’re often biased or tied to promotion. Some popular concepts, such as user-generated reviews, also have been employed successfully and more aggressively by competitors, including, among others,  Yelp and Google. (Reviewed.com, owned by USA TODAY’s parent company, Gannett, is also a competitor.)

“Consumer Reports, owned by nonprofit Consumers Union, has about 7 million subscribers, including 3.8 million who buy the print magazine and 3.2 million digital subscribers. Its annual testing budget totals about $25 million, it said.

“‘We recognize that being a trusted partner requires us to be inventive, entrepreneurial, and fluent in the ways consumers engage with the world today, and our new brand identity and ratings system are just the beginning,’ says Marta Tellado, CEO of Consumer Reports.”

Read more here.