FT proves the power of #HTML5, direct audience engagement

Wowowowowowow…. check out these numbers from the FT’s killer HTML5 app:

• 2M users in only 10 months
• 12% of FT.com subscriptions
• 19% of traffic
• ~50% growth on smartphone and tablet in past six months

Yeah.. who said the web was dead? Not with growth numbers like these the web isn’t dead, not by a long-shot.

Here’s another key point:

The sticking point for the FT was less about Apple’s demand for a 30% cut of subscription revenues for people signing up from its native app, and more about a lack of access to data on those subscribers.

As I’ve mentioned, developers and publishers will pay a fair rev share if they get a fair deal. What is, and always should be, a deal-killer is someone trying to be an intermediary between content and audience.

For content owners, losing direct access to their audience is a death sentence. Without that access, how can a content owner provide the right advertising or other value-added services? It basically kills the revenue stream for content, which in turn kills content.

The web allows for ubiquitous distribution, app-like functionality, and a direct connection between content owner and audience for the benefit of both.

Financial Times passes 2m users for its HTML5 web app | Media | guardian.co.uk.