Eventually they were the only major metropolitan newspaper in the US without a crossword puzzle. Was this another division between the news industries in Europe and the US? One such publisher is Ouest-France, which is well known for its digital-only edition with a heavy focus on interactive games. With the advantage of internet this time, publishers have been creating new types of games catered specifically for their audiences at home. We will be discussing the habit loop and how it applies to news products in a webinar on July 7th, make sure to register today. Well known from tiktok for example crossword. During our tour of the US earlier this year, we heard from one publisher that they had recently taken out their puzzles from their digital product because readers said they would rather just use a dedicated puzzle app. History repeats itself. L'Edition du Soir was created specifically for readers in the evening, with new, lighter content and a strong game offering. They found that using puzzles increased retention significantly, but less than 1% of the audience had played a puzzle in the past. How excited will your kids be with this Cuddly Unicorn that repeats back to you what you say??
As increasing frequency becomes ever more important for publishers, puzzles are able to address two very important aspects of the habit loop: variable reward and investment. Repeats like a tiktok crossword puzzle. Makes a great gift for birthday, St. Patrick's Day, Easter or any special occasion. This isn't to say that puzzles and games are only now important; smart publishers have long known this. That means The Times is able to reach a broader audience with its crossword subscription than it does normally.
In the Netherlands, De Limburger (owned by Mediahuis) launched a "Stay Home Quiz" which invited users to follow the quiz live via a video link. By investing in your puzzle experience, you can even build out your subscription funnel. The crossword puzzle might be synonymous with newspapers today, but that hasn't always been the case. In their "Project Habit", the team mapped out all actions readers can take with the digital products against their impact on retention. It grew in popularity, with more and more newspapers creating their own. Interestingly, more than 50% of the crossword subscribers do not have a subscription, digital or print, to the Times itself. They've also built out their puzzle offering, adding jigsaw puzzles featuring illustrations from articles. One publisher we see with a strong puzzles experience in their existing digital product is our most recent co-development partner The Telegraph. Many a tiktok user crossword. Getting a paying relationship with a user allows us over time to expand and let them see all the things The New York Times can von Coelln, Executive Director, Puzzles at The New York Times. This is reinforced by research The Wall Street Journal conducted as well.
The care and attention they paid to the crossword experience for their readers stand out, and of course the rest of the edition is great as well! Dating back to just before World War I, Arthur Wynne, editor at The New York World, is credited with creating the crossword. Dimensions: 5" W x 3 1/4" D x 9" H. 3 AA batteries required, not included. As former editor John Temple wrote for Nieman Lab: It was always astonishing to me as a newspaper editor how much readers cared about their puzzles…an editor learns pretty quickly that it's the features readers look forward to, the things they anticipate with pleasure, that keep many coming back for Temple, Former Editor at The Washington Post. How puzzles play an essential role in reader engagement. It was not until 1942 that they published a crossword. Puzzles are part of your product experience. It will fill hours of entertainment with laughs and snuggles with this soft pink and white plush animal.
To convert subscribers for this product, they offer a miniature puzzle for free so that readers develop a habit and ultimately decide to upgrade to the full, paid-for puzzle. Over the past few months, we have seen puzzles and games grow in importance for many publishers. Digital editor Edouard Reis Carona calls these games 'essential' due to the large number of page views they generate in each edition. Publishers are leaning into this, using puzzles as a strategic tool in habit formation, so join us as we dig further into this trend. However throughout the 1920s and 1930s, The New York Times famously refused to publish a crossword, even running several editorials dismissing the crossword as a passing fad. Publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger was finally convinced by an editor who pointed out that the crossword would provide their readers with something to occupy their time during the upcoming blackout days of World War II. We were surprised to hear this, as in Europe we have seen for years the importance of puzzles for reader engagement. The bottom line is that puzzles do play an important role in news products today and need to be carefully considered in product management strategies. On our platform, Ouest-France's L'Edition du Soir has seen a significant portion of its page views come from their puzzle and game section recently. With this new marketing push focused on puzzles, The Wall Street Journal was able to see engagement rates grow across the whole product suite.
Three quizzes were organized, with more than 2, 000 users that followed along live. The lockdown was also the reason why The Atlantic created a new feature for their crosswords that allowed 'social play' so that users can play with their friends. They revamped their onboarding process to encourage new subscribers to play a puzzle in their first week. The New York Times has been very successful with their standalone crossword subscription offer, with more 500k crossword subscribers. Games help build habits and overall engagement.