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Flipboard introduces new data tools for its magazine curators

The new features are part of the news aggregator's efforts to refine curation on the app.

Andrew Morse Former executive editor
Andrew Morse is a veteran reporter and editor. Before joining CNET, he worked at The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Bloomberg, among other publications.
Andrew Morse
2 min read
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Flipboard's new tools are live for all users now.

James Martin/CNET

Flipboard, a popular news aggregator app, introduced on Tuesday a suite of new curation features, including analytical tools that allow creators of its virtual magazines to refine content to suit their audiences. 

The new Curator Pro tools give individuals, bloggers and publishers who create Flipboard magazines, which are managed collections of story links, a range of data on engagement and popularity of their selections. The data includes a 30-day history of the most-opened stories, the most-shared stories and the number of new followers an account has enrolled.

Previously, magazine curators had a limited amount of basic data that included articles by day, viewers per day and page flips by day. Page flips are the way new material is added to a magazine.

Flipboard CEO Mike McCue says the new analytics will allow curators to assemble more engaging magazines, which will in turn help the platform's algorithm deliver more appealing collections to readers. The tools are part of a broader effort to refine curation on the news aggregator.

"We've been putting a lot of time and energy into curation on Flipboard this year," McCue said.

The new features come as Flipboard broadens both the ways content can be presented within the app and the types of content the app distributes. Earlier this year, the company introduced Storyboards, static mini-packages similar to special reports, that broke with Flipboard's hallmark aesthetic: a presentation mimicking the look and feel of physical publication. It also launched a paid TV service that provides professionally shot short-form videos from major publications. Flipboard also introduced a local news initiative in 23 North American metropolitan regions.

Flipboard competes in the crowded news aggregation space. The app, which debuted on the original iPad in 2010, boasts more than 30 million magazines. 

In addition to the data features, Curator Pro includes editing tools that make it easier to tweak titles and descriptions, as well as refine magazines for search engine optimization. The new tools are live for all users now.