With nearly three-quarters of the population spending an average of three hours a day checking their smartphones for the latest buzz, the Silicon Valley behemoths are zeroing in on news as a valuable consumer service — and revenue source.
Leveraging their enormous audiences, vast troves of user data and state-of-the-art targeting algorithms, they're creating master applications to deliver carefully tailored feeds to serve everyone's individual information and entertainment needs. These powerful and personalized headline-delivery platforms may be great for consumers, but they suggest that the best days may be in the rearview mirror for the dedicated news apps produced by media companies and a host of independent players.