Thursday 18th April: The Guardian launches paid cooking app

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The Guardian is launching a recipe subscription app called Feast, which will cost £2.99/mo ($3.99/mo in the US). They’re the latest in a series of newsbrands to lean into their recipes - incidentally, I found the most amazing raspberry vanilla fridge cake recipe recently on the FT of all places.

This is a really interesting launch for a whole host of reasons. There’s the clear parallel to the New York Times, whose strategy of segmenting off sections like cooking and crosswords into separate subscriptions is seen as industry-leading. But The Guardian is free to read, so it’s not like they’re risking cannibalising a broader offering by slicing this up.

It looks like the publisher is building out its apps as a premium offering. Its news app has recently introduced a meter which caps readers at around 20 free articles before asking to pay. I wonder if a Guardian Puzzles app will be next…

I don’t want to sound snobby, but I’ve heard plenty of publishers stand on stage and trumpet their ‘premium content’ which, if you stripped the logos off the top, you wouldn’t know who had written it. AI is increasingly putting that to the test, and unsurprisingly, it’s niche outlets which are proving resistant. Also, the WSJ’s Edward Hyatt, this week’s podcast guest, explains this really well.

Another great piece from The Audiencers from three registration experts who share case studies about how they’ve successfully increased their logged-in user base and moved readers through the funnel. Some of the strategies (cough…pins) might surprise you.

A great analysis of the AOP’s latest research project. Top of the list in terms of business priorities is developing revenue streams through new product innovation. Better get booking for our Publisher Podcast and Newsletter Summit then…

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