Echobox releases the Social Media Index (SMI)

LONDON - Feb. 23, 2017 - PRLog -- Echobox, the artificial intelligence service for the media publishing industry, today announced the release of the Social Media Index (http://www.socialmediaindex.co). The SMI is an interactive visualisation of the web traffic that publishers are receiving from social media. It provides the first benchmark against which publishers can measure their social performance. Echobox helps media publishers optimise and automate the distribution of content across digital platforms, and is offering free use of the data to journalists, academics and the public.

Echobox's team of world-class engineers and data scientists developed the interactive visualisation of social-media generated traffic to news websites, which is updated on a daily basis and can be overlaid with the dates of over a hundred major news events to identify the causes of social media spikes. "We have processed vast amounts of data. This has boosted the performance of our AI and given us a unique position versus the competition," comments CTO Dr Marc Fletcher. For Echobox CEO Antoine Amann, a former FT journalist, the SMI is one of the ways in which Echobox gives back to and supports journalists. "Journalism plays a vital role in society and we want to help ensure it has a bright future," Amann says. "Journalists do an essential job, which is getting harder every day, and our mission at Echobox is to help them report the news. Tools like the SMI are one way in which we do this."

Despite the ongoing debate about the importance of social media in generating web traffic, particularly to news publishers, there is no central repository that gives the public an insight into the nature and magnitude of this traffic. Data from reputable research organisations like Pew Research and Oxford's Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is updated monthly or annually. The SMI is available in real time, and it does not rely on self-reporting which is known to create difficulties when interpreting data. The SMI also covers an unrivalled number of countries and media segments.

The intuitive AI solution provided by Echobox ensures intelligent, authentic and optimal distribution of content and increased referral traffic from digital platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Developed in collaboration with world-leading publishers and academic institutions, its proprietary technology is proven to save publishers time while delivering valuable increases in traffic. Echobox generates on average a 33% gain in referral traffic from Facebook.

The performance of Echobox's technology has helped it secure deals with some of the world's best known publishers - including Le Monde, Le Figaro and Axel Springer. Echobox has the support of Europe's most successful and esteemed early-stage investors, including Mangrove Capital Partners, which was the first investor in Skype. The company's advisors also include Zoubin Ghahramani, a world leader in the field of machine learning and Professor at the University of Cambridge.

"While some publishers have built successful business models around online publishing, the broader publishing industry has been in crisis and is struggling with the data-heavy world of social media - the new life blood of media distribution," comments Echobox founder and CEO Antoine Amann. "Without AI, optimal content distribution is essentially an impossible task due to the vast and never-ending stream of real-time data."

"Social media optimisation has been major headache," says Anne Pican, Digital Publisher at Le Figaro. "Not only is it extremely complex but it is a lot of guesswork, and requires a more scientific approach. Since using Echobox we have seen a major upswing in our traffic and saved valuable time. Our social media team is now delivering more value to the business."

To use the SMI, go to http://www.socialmediaindex.co.