Microsoft announced the launch of PubHub, a new part of Bing Webmaster Tools that helps news publishers significantly extend their reach and attract more readers.
PubHub for News Publishers
PubHub is a new way for all news publishers, regardless of size, to dramatically increase their readership. The only prerequisite is for the publisher to already be signed up with Bing Webmaster Tools.
The goal of PubHub is to help high quality news sites to be discovered by millions of new readers by exposing their content at different points where an audience may be interested in consuming news content.
According to the announcement:
“Bing helps you get in front of millions of people using Windows 10/11 and Outlook through Outlook News Connector.
News is also available inside the Bing search app on both iOS and Android.
As a publisher, when you submit your content through the Bing Publisher Network, you are expanding your reach significantly, giving your stories and outlets even greater exposure.”
Getting added to PubHub is easy. Just log into Bing Webmaster Tools, verify your news site and then sign up for Bing News PubHub.
Which News Sites Will Qualify?
Bing listed four qualities they are looking for in a news site to feature through PubHub.
The emphasis is on site quality, the user experience, and on promoting sites that are exceptional.
Sites that want millions of users will do well to focus on delivering objectively the best content.
Bing lists four criteria for qualifying news websites:
- Newsworthiness
- Originality
- Authority
- Readability
Newsworthiness
Bing notes that qualifying news sites must cover events and topics of interest that are actual news. Topics such as advice columns, how-to, weather, and stock information do not qualify.
Bing also notes that content about product promotion will not qualify either.
Originality
When multiple organizations are reporting the same thing, Bing states that originality like facts, analysis and points of view are important.
Authority
News content must have citations to sources and provide thorough attribution, including author information.
Readability
Bing requires that sites not have intrusive advertising and that the content feature good grammar and spelling.
New Opportunity to Increase Readers
The new PubHub offers an opportunity for publishers who put the effort into creating quality reporting to be rewarded with more readers.
This is a win-win-win for Bing because it makes it more useful, for high quality publishers because they will be rewarded for their efforts and lastly it will be a boon for content consumers who will be exposed to more high quality journalism.