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We’re incredibly excited to announce the launch of our newly redesigned website.

Well, it's just about time to close the books on 2021 and take stock of what has been another very complicated year. On one hand, we were forced to press on through another challenging 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but on the other hand, there were causes for hope and optimism due to vaccines and the miraculous work of the medical industry.

2020 has arrived, and yet we still catch ourselves thinking twenty years ago was 1980! Not only has so much changed in the last 20 years, especially with all of the exciting new tech that has emerged, but a lot has changed in the last year alone too. From the rise of new social platforms to the widespread growth of podcasts, to better optimizing voice assistants for search, digital publishers everywhere have been busy in 2019. And while the digital landscape we live in is ever-changing, it’s also important to appreciate these advances as they create new opportunities to evolve and grow.

Virtual Q&A’s are a powerful and efficient way to create a more personal experience for your audience. A virtual Q&A is an interactive gathering that takes place on the internet, and isn’t restricted to a single location, so attendees can join and participate from anywhere in the world! 🌎 The host will typically provide an area to submit questions, which can take the form of a survey, online forum, or a commenting thread. This usually takes place before the event starts, allowing readers time to input their questions about topics the host typically covers and everything in between! Whether you’re doing a Q&A write up, video or live video, this type of virtual event allows you, or your guests, to reach your audience in a more personal and direct way. Having this particular approach to your content will also let your audience to put a face to your brand. Q&A’s provide an opportunity for digital publishers to educate their audience, foster healthy debate, and share knowledge.

In January of 2018, Facebook changed its News Feed algorithm to prioritize more “meaningful interactions” from friends and family. The algorithm doesn’t just promote posts with the most comments but rather posts with replies to comments that can propel a conversation forward. As Facebook de-emphasized content from businesses and brands, many publishers lost significant referral traffic and had to re-evaluate their strategies to maintain and grow their readership. Facebook’s algorithm change was a challenge to most publishers, but particularly difficult for the ones that relied heavily on the social media platform to distribute content and drive traffic. So, over a year later, let’s take a look at what publishers are doing to replace that lost referral traffic. Many changed their approach on Facebook and explored different social platforms for distribution, such as LinkedIn or Instagram. They also took a look within to see how they can tweak their internal strategies.

In 2018, we saw a variety of emerging trends coming from the Digital Publishing world. We witnessed many publishers go back to basics with increased investments to SEO, which is a more stable and predictable traffic generation strategy-- versus Facebook, for example. Additionally, publishers explored the next frontier: AI, to help deliver more relevant and engaging experiences for their readers. This is a fairly new area for publishers, and if done well, it can create a serious competitive advantage. For example, the New York Times utilized data science and machine learning to determine the optimal time to show subscription prompts to readers thus increasing their subscription-based revenue . Many digital publishers made subscriptions their main priority, which is an effective strategy since it is an owned and operated monetization and distribution strategy. In addition to these traditional tactics, new website redesigns, increasing partnerships, podcasting, and networking events all contributed to the success of digital publishers in 2018 🎉.

Hard as it is to believe, 2018 is now coming to an end, and it was a rollercoaster year for digital publishers. From dealing with the fallout of Facebook's dramatic Newsfeed changes, which resulted in significantly reduced reach for most, to navigating the complex path to GDPR compliance and the ensuing changes-- publishers faced several new challenges in 2018. And while a constantly shifting digital landscape can be hard to navigate, it also opens the door for new opportunities to evolve and grow. Throughout 2018 we saw publishers give alternative platforms a fresh look, leverage new technologies, and adapt their strategies in order to grow their audiences and businesses.

Strong relationships with our publishers and users are essential. A critical part of these relationships is establishing trust and confidence, which is why privacy has always been a priority. Over the last several years we made regular updates, geared towards respecting users’ privacy and ensuring a safe experience on Disqus.

Today we have some big news to share: Disqus is now part of Zeta Global, a marketing technology company that helps leading brands acquire, retain and grow customer relationships.

This post is about the latest going-ons with Disqus. A lot has been happening over here, and they all can be somewhat represented with numbers. So, this post is also about the numbers of Disqus.