ZDNet is about to leave the Ziff-Davis fold, but the Web site will continue to use magazine content

KNOW WHERE TO LOOK if you want the latest scoops on high-tech stocks, news about technology and business, a digital camera or a computer class? These things and more are at the fingertips of visitors to ZDNet.com.

The site, run by San Francisco-based ZD Inc., is part of a global network of sites that provides a source for people looking to buy, use and learn more about technology. It’s produced through local operations in 23 countries and in 15 languages.

Visitors are offered everything from software downloads to 300,000 pages of content. And all this seems to be working: As of August, average daily page views grew 63 percent to 14.4 million from 8.8 million in the second quarter of last year.

ZDNet has come a long way. What started out in 1994 as a platform for Ziff-Davis magazine home pages has evolved into a technological giant in its own right. Today, in addition to hosting the Web content and managing the newsletters for Ziff-Davis Media Inc. publications (with the exceptions of Net Economy and Expedia Travels), ZDNet generates in-house content and offers a host of services.

And it will soon be a stand-alone unit. When the expected acquisition of ZDNet by CNET Networks Inc. is completed (it was pending at press time) the only tie that will still bind ZDNet and Ziff-Davis Media is a contractual agreement for magazine content rights for five years, three of which are exclusive.

This split-up had its origins when Ziff-Davis Inc., seeking what it called, “strategic alternatives,” decided to sell its six media platforms – print, online, TV, research, education and events. In April, 12 magazines serving 21 million readers were sold to Willis Stein & Partners, and Ziff-Davis Media was formed.

Of course, the magazine content is still an important component, and both sides continue to make use of natural marketing synergies. For example, ZDNet visitors can subscribe to the magazines online. And the publications help drive traffic to the Web site. Moreover, online Ziff-Davis magazine visitors have access to a host of additional information and services.

“Currently, magazine content is just a small fraction of the content on the site,” says ZDNet spokeswoman Martha Papalia. “It’s much more interactive now. Information is at the core of who we are, but ZDNet is now a multiservice offering.”

Although ZDNet is not a commerce site, visitors are offered 250,000 products from more than 100 different vendors. Comparative products and their prices, with links for purchase transactions, are available. And the number of ZDNet advertisers is growing. Advertisers reached a record number of 603 in the second quarter of 2000, up 40 percent from 431 in the same quarter last year. What’s behind that growth?

Using a proprietary user-profiling system, ZDNet tracks 8 million users and targets them with appropriate customized messages related to content, special offers and advertising, as long as they accept cookies, explains Alan Phillips, ZDNet’s vice president and chief information officer.

“ZDNet looked at the drivers to future success and it was clear that we needed to know our customers,” says Phillips. To reach that goal, ZDNet began a process in which to build internal profiles on the sites’ core users two years ago. “The concept was to build a profile on a user for everything that the user told us through registration or surveys as well as everything that the user did on the site pertaining to textual value.”

Most profiles excepting those of registered users are anonymous. They’re based on users’ unique IDs, the means by which ZDNet’s technology tailors their Web experience. “If we have a user come three times in four days and every time they read a review on a Palm Pilot or wireless device, that’s great information because the next time they visit we can serve them ads related to that [experience. We also can] let them know that the Palm site has been updated and new software or shareware is available,” says Phillips. User contact is “across the board,” he adds, since no matter where users wander on the site they can be served customized ads.

The core information about a particular user is based on the previous 30 days’ visits and the profiles are updated each night. On day 31, all information is removed from a user’s record. Through the type of content users frequent, they are segmented into clusters for games, shareware, news and/or family. “We’re [currently] trying to understand how to influence the behavior of different clusters,” says Phillips.

Many services are available to enhance the Web experience of the site’s 5.3 million registered users, including access to e-mail and exclusive downloads. Users also can request subscriptions to ZDNet’s newsletters. As of August ZDNet delivered a monthly average of 113 million e-mail newsletters during the second quarter to a subscription base of more than 11.7 million.

“We’ll slice messages in the newsletters for clusters or specifics based on what the user has told us about themselves or from what we’ve learned about them through registration,” says Phillips. This allows promotion of specific events in a user’s geographical area by targeting messages to ZIP codes.

The Magazines And what about the print products? Three magazines have changed their names – PC Computing is now Ziff-Davis Smart Business for the New Economy, PC Week is eWeek, and Sm@rt Reseller is Sm@rt Partner.

“There have been a lot of changes but the magazine brands and their readers remain, and remain strong,” says Charles Mast, senior vice president for consumer marketing at Ziff-Davis Media. Mast notes that the name changes were made primarily to reflect reader interests. “We conducted a lot of research on how reader’s lives were changing in the new economy and how the market was changing. Some of the magazines have shifted focus in reaction to readers as well as the market, but most circulation strategies have remained constant.”

Mast says new circ plans have been tried and found to be successful, specifically e-mail and online qualification forms for the four controlled circulation publications (eWeek, Inter@ctive Week, Sm@rt Partner, and Net Economy). According to Mast, over 90 percent of subscribers who fill out the online form have been driven by e-mail or direct mail contact.

“It’s increasing the circulation of the publications,” Mast claims. “Our response and conversion rates have never been higher.” Considerable time and effort as well as dollars have been invested in these DM techniques to find what readers best respond to, but the actual return “is a moving target,” says Mast. “Can you assure a renewing reader more cost- effectively than another source? We’ve found it to be an overwhelming yes.”

Is ZDNet going to dilute the subscriber base by running magazine content online? Mast isn’t worried. Demand for print remains strong, and aggressive cross-marketing doesn’t hurt the publications, he says.

ZDNet is about to leave the Ziff-Davis fold, but the Web site will continue to use magazine content

KNOW WHERE TO LOOK if you want the latest scoops on high-tech stocks, news about technology and business, a digital camera or a computer class? These things and more are at the fingertips of visitors to ZDNet.com.

The site, run by San Francisco-based ZD Inc., is part of a global network of sites that provides a source for people looking to buy, use and learn more about technology. It’s produced through local operations in 23 countries and in 15 languages.

Visitors are offered everything from software downloads to 300,000 pages of content. And all this seems to be working: As of August, average daily page views grew 63 percent to 14.4 million from 8.8 million in the second quarter of last year.

ZDNet has come a long way. What started out in 1994 as a platform for Ziff-Davis magazine home pages has evolved into a technological giant in its own right. Today, in addition to hosting the Web content and managing the newsletters for Ziff-Davis Media Inc. publications (with the exceptions of Net Economy and Expedia Travels), ZDNet generates in-house content and offers a host of services.

And it will soon be a stand-alone unit. When the expected acquisition of ZDNet by CNET Networks Inc. is completed (it was pending at press time) the only tie that will still bind ZDNet and Ziff-Davis Media is a contractual agreement for magazine content rights for five years, three of which are exclusive.

This split-up had its origins when Ziff-Davis Inc., seeking what it called, “strategic alternatives,” decided to sell its six media platforms – print, online, TV, research, education and events. In April, 12 magazines serving 21 million readers were sold to Willis Stein & Partners, and Ziff-Davis Media was formed.

Of course, the magazine content is still an important component, and both sides continue to make use of natural marketing synergies. For example, ZDNet visitors can subscribe to the magazines online. And the publications help drive traffic to the Web site. Moreover, online Ziff-Davis magazine visitors have access to a host of additional information and services.

“Currently, magazine content is just a small fraction of the content on the site,” says ZDNet spokeswoman Martha Papalia. “It’s much more interactive now. Information is at the core of who we are, but ZDNet is now a multiservice offering.”

Although ZDNet is not a commerce site, visitors are offered 250,000 products from more than 100 different vendors. Comparative products and their prices, with links for purchase transactions, are available. And the number of ZDNet advertisers is growing. Advertisers reached a record number of 603 in the second quarter of 2000, up 40 percent from 431 in the same quarter last year. What’s behind that growth?

Using a proprietary user-profiling system, ZDNet tracks 8 million users and targets them with appropriate customized messages related to content, special offers and advertising, as long as they accept cookies, explains Alan Phillips, ZDNet’s vice president and chief information officer.

“ZDNet looked at the drivers to future success and it was clear that we needed to know our customers,” says Phillips. To reach that goal, ZDNet began a process in which to build internal profiles on the sites’ core users two years ago. “The concept was to build a profile on a user for everything that the user told us through registration or surveys as well as everything that the user did on the site pertaining to textual value.”

Most profiles excepting those of registered users are anonymous. They’re based on users’ unique IDs, the means by which ZDNet’s technology tailors their Web experience. “If we have a user come three times in four days and every time they read a review on a Palm Pilot or wireless device, that’s great information because the next time they visit we can serve them ads related to that [experience. We also can] let them know that the Palm site has been updated and new software or shareware is available,” says Phillips. User contact is “across the board,” he adds, since no matter where users wander on the site they can be served customized ads.

The core information about a particular user is based on the previous 30 days’ visits and the profiles are updated each night. On day 31, all information is removed from a user’s record. Through the type of content users frequent, they are segmented into clusters for games, shareware, news and/or family. “We’re [currently] trying to understand how to influence the behavior of different clusters,” says Phillips.

Many services are available to enhance the Web experience of the site’s 5.3 million registered users, including access to e-mail and exclusive downloads. Users also can request subscriptions to ZDNet’s newsletters. As of August ZDNet delivered a monthly average of 113 million e-mail newsletters during the second quarter to a subscription base of more than 11.7 million.

“We’ll slice messages in the newsletters for clusters or specifics based on what the user has told us about themselves or from what we’ve learned about them through registration,” says Phillips. This allows promotion of specific events in a user’s geographical area by targeting messages to ZIP codes.

The Magazines And what about the print products? Three magazines have changed their names – PC Computing is now Ziff-Davis Smart Business for the New Economy, PC Week is eWeek, and Sm@rt Reseller is Sm@rt Partner.

“There have been a lot of changes but the magazine brands and their readers remain, and remain strong,” says Charles Mast, senior vice president for consumer marketing at Ziff-Davis Media. Mast notes that the name changes were made primarily to reflect reader interests. “We conducted a lot of research on how reader’s lives were changing in the new economy and how the market was changing. Some of the magazines have shifted focus in reaction to readers as well as the market, but most circulation strategies have remained constant.”

Mast says new circ plans have been tried and found to be successful, specifically e-mail and online qualification forms for the four controlled circulation publications (eWeek, Inter@ctive Week, Sm@rt Partner, and Net Economy). According to Mast, over 90 percent of subscribers who fill out the online form have been driven by e-mail or direct mail contact.

“It’s increasing the circulation of the publications,” Mast claims. “Our response and conversion rates have never been higher.” Considerable time and effort as well as dollars have been invested in these DM techniques to find what readers best respond to, but the actual return “is a moving target,” says Mast. “Can you assure a renewing reader more cost- effectively than another source? We’ve found it to be an overwhelming yes.”

Is ZDNet going to dilute the subscriber base by running magazine content online? Mast isn’t worried. Demand for print remains strong, and aggressive cross-marketing doesn’t hurt the publications, he says.