With Localized Machine Learning, New World-class Publishers and Regional Curation, France Leads the Way as Flipboard Advances in Europe
WEB SUMMIT: Lisbon, Portugal, 8 November, 2017 — Today, Flipboard rolls out a significant update to its French edition, giving its audience in France new ways to personalize the content they see on Flipboard. This represents the first localization of Flipboard’s AI-driven Topics Engine; additional languages will follow in the coming year. Europeans make up 27 percent of Flipboard’s audience, and the company has seen over 25 percent growth in France since the beginning of 2017.
“We are bringing the benefits of our advanced personalization to the non-English speaking world, starting with France,” said Flipboard CEO Mike McCue. “Now you can personalize Technology on your Flipboard by following specific companies or trends, or you can personalize Music by following opera or hip-hop.”
This new capability follows the recent expansion of Flipboard’s partnerships with publishers and brands in Europe. For instance, in France, leading publications such as Les Echos, Vogue France, Paris Match and Le Figaro are now available on Flipboard. And, since the launch last month of a new publisher program that makes it easier for publishers to add their content to Flipboard, hundreds of additional European publishers have requested to join the platform.
“The new French topics will allow us to promote the diversity of our content even better and drive more mobile traffic to high-quality trending stories about topics such as AI, big tech and startups,” said Julien Peschard, Product Manager for Les Echos.
“We reach an additional audience with our stories on Flipboard,” said Laurent Suply, Director of Operations at Le Figaro. “We see unexpected spikes in traffic to articles that don’t perform well on our site.”
Personalization Through French Topics Engine
The new French edition of Flipboard lets people more granularly control and fine-tune the content that comes to them everyday. Now people in France using Flipboard can select a broad topic, like Economy, and tailor it to “stock exchange” or “blockchain” so that they start seeing more about their particular interests and in the process create a totally unique Flipboard experience.
To offer deep personalization in French, Flipboard’s Topic Engine, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze each article to determine what it’s about, is now trained to index and organize stories in the French language. The engine looks at stories, videos and images being shared by French publishers and curated into the millions of Flipboard Magazines made by people on Flipboard and, using machine learning, it “understands” the contents of each story and surfaces it to people interested in that topic.
Previously, someone who followed sports, for instance, saw a general news feed about all sports based on sources, selected by Flipboard editors, that typically write about sports. Now, that person can pick subtopics such as football or cycling, building a feed that is tailored to each person’s specific interests. And the stories not only come from specific sources writing about that subject, but articles from any publication can be discovered by the Topic Engine and surfaced to people interested in that topic. By organizing stories based on analyzing the content vs. based on the source, Flipboard lets French people enjoy a broader range of sources.
In 2011, Flipboard introduced a French-language edition of its Content Guide, offering a hand-curated selection of local news feeds on topics such as tech, sports, auto, celebrities and fashion. Flipboard’s in-house curation team also assembles L’edition du jour (Daily Edition) and Sélections Flipboard (Picks Magazine), which are currently two of the most popular sections among French people on Flipboard. The new localized French version of Flipboard will now be even more custom to each person and their areas of interest with the introduction of our first localized Topic Engine.
During a limited A/B test with the French Topic Index, there was a 12 percent increase in the number of articles people viewed, which can be attributed to the improved personalization of content. Similarly, the Topics Engine allows brands to increase the relevancy of their advertising and content, reaching people while they are reading about their interests and passions.
About Flipboard
Flipboard gives people a single place to stay informed and get inspired to pursue their passions. With more than 100 million readers every month, Flipboard is used by people around the world to read leading publications, blogs, and industry news as well as to collect stories, images, and videos into their own Flipboard Magazines to share ideas with others or simply express their perspective. Download Flipboard for free in any app store or visit www.flipboard.com.
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