CASE STUDY
How leading Dutch newspaper NRC adds integrity and improves future SEO results
How do publishers adapt now that fake news and misinformation are growing? In this case study, we take a look at NRC’s implementation of WordProof Timestamp to re-affirm its credibility and prepare for future SEO revolutions.
What is NRC?
NRC, short for NRC Handelsblad, is one of the biggest publishers with a daily newspaper in The Netherlands that has been around since 1970. Independence, integrity, transparency and ownership are important.
THE PROBLEM
'Truth' has become subjective, which is a threat to NRC's values, credibility and existence
86% of all people have fallen for fake news
29% of Europeans are suspicious of the internet
71% of Europeans encounter fake news at least once a week on social media and 65% via search engines
76% of all people believe major news media to be moderately to ineffective in fighting fake news
THE SOLUTION
Timestamps make content verifiable, which re-affirms NRC's credibility in times of fake news
92% of Europeans give more trust to content if they know what organization and author was behind a piece of content.
90% of Europeans give more trust to content if they can see what changes had been made to the content over time.
89% of Europeans give more trust to content if they can easily research the reputation of the author.
NRC uses timestamps to authenticate content which enables verification, re-affirms credibility and prepares for SEO revolutions.
Misinformation is a big threat for the publishing industry and society as a whole. The credibility of NRC and the entire industry is at stake.
Han-Menno Depeweg
Chief Digital Officer at NRC
THE IMPLEMENTATION
Timestamping on the blockchain made easy and scalable
Step 1: WordProof API
NRC uses the WordProof API to establish a secure connection.
Step 2: Hashing content
Content, containing information about the author, medium and publication date, is hashed and published on the blockchain.
Step 3: Structured Data
Timestamp data is added to the structured data on the webpages of NRC.
Step 4: SEO Ranking
Search engine crawlers can read out the structured data and use it as a ranking factor.
Numbers
246.400 timestamps published per day
without a negative impact on server performance
945.000 timestamps published in total
which will increase up to 2.500.000 in February 2021
4 hours
of development to implement WordProof
Leading the way in SEO is a priority for SDIM and our client NRC. SDIM believes that the internet should maintain a reliable source of information. We believe it is our duty to help both users and search engines to achieve this.
Thomas Meijer
SEO consultant at SDIM
THE RESULT
Integrity of all NRC publications are secured and prepared for SEO revolutions
2.500.000 existing articles
were secured and prepared for SEO-revolutions in a matter of days.
Timestamp data
is added to the structured data to offer accountability and transparency for humans, search engines and social platforms.
100% of all future articles
will be timestamped automatically in the background.
NRC uses WordProof Timestamp
to further anchor its core values of independence, integrity, transparency and ownership in daily operations.
In five years from now, if you don’t timestamp your articles on the blockchain, you’re going to be considered a fraud.
Brendan Blumer
CEO at Block.One