Google Drive Newsletters: R&D Experiments

Google Enters the Newsletter Arena with Museletter

In response to moves by tech giants such as Facebook and Twitter, Google is currently exploring the newsletter market. This initiative stems from Area 120, the company’s internal research and development team, and is manifested in a new project known as Museletter.

Museletter empowers users to publish Google Drive files as either a blog or a newsletter, accessible through a public Museletter profile or directly to an email distribution list.

Repurposing Existing Tools to Compete

This endeavor effectively leverages Google’s pre-existing document creation capabilities as a competitive strategy against established newsletter platforms. These include services like Substack, Ghost, Revue, and others that are attracting an increasingly large readership.

The discovery of Google’s experiment was initially reported this week by publications including 9to5Google and Android Police.

Limited Details from Google

When contacted for comment, a representative from Area 120 refrained from providing extensive details regarding Museletter. They characterized it as “one of many experiments” underway within the R&D division, emphasizing that the project remains in its “very early” stages.

Monetization Potential Through Google Drive

However, information available on the Museletter website reveals insights into the project’s potential for monetization. The platform aims to differentiate itself by enabling creators to leverage Google Drive for revenue generation.

Beyond simply writing newsletters in Google Docs, creators could utilize other productivity applications to share information with their audience. For instance, a paid subscription could grant access to Google Slides presentations.

A finance-focused creator might distribute helpful spreadsheets via Google Sheets, exclusively available to subscribers.

Publishing and Subscription Options

Museletter publishers will establish a public profile within Google Drive. They can then directly publish any Google Drive file to this profile.

This creates a dedicated landing page for marketing subscriptions and showcasing the variety of publicly available Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Creators have the option to publish to an email list, including importing lists from other services. Newsletter subscriptions can be offered for free or as a paid service, at the creator’s discretion.

The use of Museletter itself will remain free; monetization will be achieved through premium features such as custom domains and automated welcome emails.

Analytics and Potential Advertising Revenue

The platform will also provide tools and analytics to help creators engage their audience and monitor newsletter performance.

While advertising isn’t currently mentioned, a successful launch could open a new revenue stream for Google. This is particularly relevant given the growing competition in the advertising market from Amazon, which poses a challenge to the established Google-Facebook dominance.

Early Access Availability

Google has not announced a specific launch date for Museletter. However, a link on the website directs users to a form for requesting early access to the platform.