The never-ending business news content

Jack Marshall of Digiday looks at how some online business news publishers such as Yahoo Tech and Quartz are leading a change in how content is being presented.

Marshall writes, “Look no farther than Yahoo’s new food and tech sites. The sites present users with an infinite list of image tiles and headlines which, after clicking or tapping, expand to reveal full articles. At the end of the content, the feed continues. A user could, in theory, consume content on Yahoo’s new sites infinitely without ever being aware of the fact that data is being loaded in the background. It’s a far cry from clicking a link and waiting while a blank “page” populates with new content, which is how most publisher sites work today. That’s the same approach The Atlantic took with Quartz, its ‘mobile-first’ global business publication that has a viewing pane in which stories (and ads) are shown in an endless stream.

“‘Anyone who makes stuff for the Web wants anything that reflects the idea of a page to go away’ said Kevin Kearney, CEO of digital design firm Hard Candy Shell, which has worked with major publishers including the Wall Street Journal, Gawker and Newsweek. ‘Even the idea of talking about them as pages is non-digital. It’s an archaic concept.’

“Social media has also changed the way users interact with digital content. They’re now used to flicking through feeds of content on networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and they’re beginning to expect the same from media publications, too. The rise of touchscreen devices has had a smiler effect. It’s easier for users to swipe their way through content than it is to have to tap and wait for it to load.

“‘The traditional news webpage has become what felt like a real dead-end for readers,’ explained Quartz editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney. ‘We thought to ourselves: Why do so many sites offer such a bad user experience? The Web doesn’t end, so why don’t we just let users scroll into the next article?’

“That’s exactly what it did, and Quartz’s site has been praised by many for breaking new ground as a result. Its design and content might not be to everyone’s taste, but there appears to be a rapidly developing consensus that webpages as we know them won’t be around much longer.”

Read more here.