Weigh in on games, breaking news with embedded Knoda predictions

At this point, it’s no surprise that readers take to Facebook or Twitter to speculate about the latest breaking news of the day. But now using Kansas City-based prediction software startup Knoda, readers can engage with news as it happens and share their predictions in real-time…

Now the Kansas City Star’s blog The Full 90 embeds Knoda predictions in each of its pre-match articles.

At this point, it’s no surprise that readers take to Facebook or Twitter to speculate about the latest breaking news of the day.

But now using Kansas City-based prediction software startup Knoda, readers can engage with news as it happens and share their predictions in real-time.

“What we’ve found is that predictions are a great way to engage with content as news is breaking, as you’re watching content be created online,” Knoda founder Kyle Rogers told SPN.

Rogers says that he and the Knoda team were especially aware of the development during the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, when predictions of the flight’s whereabouts, the reason for the crash and more exploded across the Internet.

“What we’ve found is that people are really interested in having something on the line in terms of a prediction or response with any type of breaking news,” Rogers said. “Knoda is a really lightweight way to do that.”

And now, through the startup’s ability to embed its prediction software into other websites, they’re beginning to bring interactive predictions to a wide variety of readers.

So far, Rogers says the most logical place for Knoda’s predictions to be embedded within the news has been sports and entertainment. For instance, the Kansas City Star embeds Knoda predictions on its blog The Full 90, which covers Sporting KC as well as region and national soccer news.

“(Sports writers) almost always make a prediction but it was flat before, now with Knoda readers can engage with that and weigh in to let the writer know what they think. That way we’re also keeping track of who was right or wrong,” Rogers said.

Outside of the Star, Rogers says sports-related predictions have started popping up in a number of other outlets; for instance, during the World Cup, a number of Knoda predictions were embedded on Howler magazine’s blog.

However, in terms of predictions about breaking news within news stories, Rogers says Knoda hasn’t quite surpassed that milestone but he believes they’ll get there soon.

“We haven’t seen that yet from an embed perspective, but we continue to see it all the time within the Knoda community,” he said.

Earlier this summer, Knoda received a $50,000 investment from the Allen Angel Capital Education program, a student angel fund through the University of Missouri’s Trulaske College of Business. In November 2013, Knoda secured a seed round of funding from local angel investors and to date has raised about $400,000.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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2 responses to “Weigh in on games, breaking news with embedded Knoda predictions”

  1. Regan L Carrizales Avatar
    Regan L Carrizales

    Congrats Kyle and team!

  2. […] also created the ability for online publishers to embed predictions within their websites, as SPN profiled a few weeks ago. Publishers are responding extremely well. The Kansas City Star is embedding multiple predictions […]