About

The vision: New revenues for news

To earn new revenue, news organizations need to quickly migrate their historic role as the most-trusted source of information from the product-oriented print world to a service-oriented digital “ecosystem.” The Information Valet Network supports an information-industry collaborative to build, own and operate a shared-user network layered upon the basic Internet. It will: 

  • ADVERTISING — Advance the role, effectiveness of, and compensation for online advertising and marketing services via the ability to deliver targeted, interest-based advertising to individual, known consumers.
  • PRIVACY — Allow end users to own, protect — and optionally benefit by sharing — their demographic and usage data, with the help of their competitively chosen “information valet” – such as their local newspaper.
  • SOCIAL NETWORK — Provide a platform for customizing, sharing and personalizing the end-user web experience – a “news social network” with one ID, one passworld, one account and one bill.
  • TRANSACTION — Allow online users to easily share, sell and buy content through multiple websites with one bill, one account, one ID and password which work at a plurality of participating websites.

The U.S. news industry struggles as print advertising moves elsewhere and web advertising’s double-digit growth sputters. The industry can now rethink and relaunch its relationship with 35 million customers — to become their “information valet” able to make money whether those users are buying services, information (including music and entertainment) or being paid for web seeking and contact with sponsored messages and advertising.

  • Consumers want a customized experience, but want to control and be compensated for use of demographic and usage profiles.
  • The Internet needs a user-focused system for sharing identity, exchanging and settling value (including payments), for digital information. The system should allow multiple “Information Valets” to compete for and serve customers with varied topical interests and appetites for demographic sharing. It needs a New(s) Social Network.

What experts say

  • Paul Gillin: “Can Densmore’s vision work? It has to.”
  • Andy Oram: “Why a new proposal for making the news business sustainable deserves attention.”

Other resources

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