The New York Times announced today that it's backing out of Apple News, the Cupertino company's way of delivering news from multiple outlets to readers. Explaining the decision, the publication said that the partnership with Apple News didn't really allow for the publication to engage with its readers.
Last year, Apple launched Apple News+, a paid subscription that gave users access to many publications, including some that would be typically behind their own paywall. The New York Times skipped out on joining the service, mostly because Apple takes 50% of the revenue from Apple News+, leaving the remaining 50% to be distributed among all of its news partners. Indeed, towards the end of last year, many publishers said they didn't see much benefit in being on the platform.
Not only did The New York Times pass on Apple's paid subscription, it began providing less of its content to the free version of Apple News. The news outlet says one of the problems is that Apple News doesn't direct readers to its website where it can control the relationship with its readers, which is why it's backing away entirely. Its articles will continue to appear in Google News, which sends users to its website, and Facebook's News tab, with the social network paying the publisher to feature its articles there.
Given some of the negative comments coming from other publications, it's possible that this move by The New York Times will influence others to change their approach to Apple's news services. Of course, that remains to be seen.
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