Microsoft News brings in over $1B in revenue for publishers

Following information on Microsoft’s efforts to support local newsrooms and journalism, the company is now releasing some numbers behind its more global efforts regarding the new industry.

Since 2014 Microsoft News (or more anecdotally known as the MSN app on devices) has attracted over 550 million monthly readers in 180 countries across 31 different languages and above all, returned $1B in “sustainable revenue” to the news industry as a whole.

In a new post on the Microsoft New Blog, the company is attributing its accumulative accomplishments within the new industry to a simple licensing and algorithmic combination.

• License content from our worldwide community of over 4,500 media brands.  
• Use a mix of algorithms and human insight to combine and curate that content into news feeds that power our experiences on the web, desktop, and mobile. 
• Integrate high-quality advertising and share revenue with our publishing partners.  

As a result, MSN has been able to share its growing pot of $1B revenue with its 4,500+ global publishing network as well as power 170,000 unique pieces of content daily that cover a gambit of topics including sports, late-breaking global news, weather, pop culture, science, food, finance, and many more.

Going forward, Microsoft will continue to leverage its AI to assist in quicker and more thorough journalism as well as exploring emerging news topics such as eSports. Microsoft is also committed to continually reevaluate its publishing distributions to best support journalists and news outlets as a reward for high-quality content.