On August 5, US District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google “is a monopolist and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly” in search and in text ads. The trial will now move to the “remedies” stage where the judge will hear arguments about what fixes should be imposed going forward including impact on the developing GAI market as captured here.
Google has already announced it will appeal the ruling but this represents a significant milestone in our years long effort to call attention to Google’s anticompetitive behavior. Indeed, DCN first met with officials at the Department of Justice in 2017 on this matter before ramping up in late 2018. It also comes at a sensitive time for Google with the Department of Justice’s second trial (adtech) set for opening arguments on September 9th with many relevant findings from this decision carrying over to that case.
We will conduct an analysis of the ruling, which we plan to share with our membership in the coming days.
If you find it challenging to keep up with changes in privacy standards and regulation, you’re not alone. Twenty states have passed comprehensive consumer privacy laws, and more are expected to follow. Since a national privacy law does not yet exist, media companies must navigate a patchwork of state and international regulations.
With the privacy landscape seemingly always in flux, where do media companies begin? Here’s an overview of what publishers need to know to plan for a compliant future.
Background: Where to start understanding privacy issues
As the digital advertising landscape has evolved, consumers have become increasingly concerned with how their data is collected, used and stored. These concerns led to calls for legislation and industry standards to protect their data and guide businesses on best practices.
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was the first state law passed to address this. Key provisions included consumers’ right to know how their data is being used, and the choice to delete or opt out of data collection.
CCPA became a blueprint for other states to follow. But without national legislation, the result has been an assortment of laws that differ across jurisdictions. As advertisers and media companies attempt to navigate these regulations, the industry has recognized the need for solutions.
In March, the IAB released its State of Data 2024 report, which shares feedback from brands, agencies and publishers about current data practices and where the industry is headed. In the study, 95% of respondents expected continued legislation and signal loss this year and beyond. Because of these challenges, companies must significantly change their practices.
Most publishers are taking a state-by-state approach. Brand marketers are opting for a one-size-fits-all strategy aimed at the highest common denominator. Angelina Eng, IAB’s vice president of measurement, addressability, and data center, explained that as organizations navigate a world with greater signal loss, they need to think holistically about the data they’re collecting.
“Companies need to ask themselves who they’re sharing data with, how to activate and whether they have consumer consent. Our research found that nearly 70% of consumers are willing to share their personal data to support advertising overall, and nearly three in four consumers understand that sharing their data enables websites/apps to know more about them in order to serve personalized ads,” Eng said. “We need to provide consumers with guidance and education around the value of allowing advertisers to leverage some data points and provide ads relevant to consumers, which would in turn allow us to measure performance.”
Media industry compliance solutions are in the works
Several industry initiatives are being developed to streamline compliance and make it easier for businesses to implement industry standards.
The IAB Multi-State Privacy Agreement (MSPA) is a framework designed to help companies from all corners of the industry comply with various state-level privacy regulations. It ensures that companies can efficiently manage compliance across jurisdictions.
The Global Privacy Platform works with the MSPA to transmit consumer preferences across jurisdictions, ensuring compliance with privacy laws such as GDPR and state regulations.
Another element of the IAB’s privacy solutions portfolio is its Diligence Platform. This data privacy platform includes standardized privacy diligence questions for different segments of the advertising industry to help streamline the evaluation process and improve compliance efficiency.
Media companies need a roadmap to navigate privacy
As the industry experiences changes including signal loss and new privacy regulations, organizations must build strategies that allows them to continue to leverage first-party data while remaining privacy compliant.
There are new tools to help publishers better understand and navigate these challenges. ThinkMedium, a consulting firm founded by ad tech veteran Dennis Buchheim, recently released its Publisher Readiness Playbook. It Outlines the context, questions and steps for publishers to understand their preparedness for ongoing data- and identity-related shifts.
“Part of the challenge with privacy regulations is that they go beyond laws. It’s the platform policies that in many ways are having a huge impact on the industry,” Buchheim said.
Buchheim added that the number of policies publishers must be aware of can be overwhelming.
“The breadth of regulations and policies is tremendous. You really must understand what applies to you and what doesn’t. You can comply with the strictest interpretation, have a more bespoke plan, or take a blanket approach. Making very conscious decisions like these requires having a good understanding of what’s happening in the industry. We believe the Playbook can help provide some of that understanding.”
Media companies also can gain a better understanding of their level of compliance by participating in an industry certification program. These programs measure companies against current industry standards and can reveal gaps in compliance that may lead to process improvements to ensure they meet industry standards. While keeping up with privacy changes can seem daunting, solutions and guidance exist to help media companies navigate these complexities. Devising a plan and seeking help from industry resources can help media companies remain in good standing with advertisers, consumers and the law.
Oracle’s announcement that they are shutting down their ad tech division came as a surprise to their clients as well the industry at large. For media companies heavily reliant on Oracle’s data solutions, it served as a stark reminder: the ability to adapt to unforeseen changes is paramount in today’s data-driven landscape.
This isn’t just a concern for large enterprise companies. Media companies of all sizes need to prioritize data agility. But what exactly is data agility, and why is it so crucial for success in the media world?
Data agility: adaptability in the face of change
Data agility goes beyond simply having a lot of data. It’s about the ability to access, analyze, and leverage your data quickly and efficiently in a constantly changing environment. It’s the freedom to pivot strategies, swap data sources, and adjust workflows with minimal disruption when faced with unexpected challenges.
Since media businesses rely on their data as the backbone of their revenue generation strategy, it’s even more important for them to think about the agility of their data. Agile data can bring many benefits, including:
Enhanced Transparency: With readily available, accurate data, media companies gain a clearer picture of audiences, campaign performance, and overall business health.
Informed Decision Making: Agile data empowers media companies to react swiftly to market trends and audience preferences. Accessing and gaining real-time insights from trusted data across the organization can inform campaign optimization, content strategy, and resource allocation.
Competitive Advantage: Data agility enables media companies to adapt to changing trends and audience behaviors, respond effectively to competitor moves, and maintain a competitive edge.
Streamlined Collaboration: When data is readily accessible and easily shared across departments, collaboration flourishes. Agile data fosters better communication between marketing, sales, and finance teams, leading to a more unified approach.
Resource Allocation: Even the most efficient data operations and engineering teams often struggle to field dozens of daily requests from across the company. Executives that prioritize data agility as part of their budgeting and staffing process can help relieve the burden placed on their teams.
Future-Proofing Your Business: Data agility allows media companies to be prepared for the unexpected – whether it’s a new technology disruption, a regulatory shift, or a change in audience preferences. Companies that can adapt their data strategy and infrastructure to navigate these changes can avoid derailing their plans.
Building a foundation of data agility
So, how can media companies cultivate data agility? The first step is to invest in a flexible data platform that scales with your needs and offers seamless integration from all the sources that are important to run the business. Choose a data platform that allows non-technical teams to ingest and customize their data with proprietary business rules so they can perform independent analysis. Also consider cloud-based solutions for scalability and flexibility.
Next, make data governance a top priority. Establish clear policies and procedures around data collection, access, and security. This helps maintain data integrity and compliance with internal and external regulations.
When strong systems are in place, work on developing a data-driven culture where data is readily available across the organization. Provide training and resources to empower even non-engineering members of the team with the skills to understand, analyze, and utilize data effectively.
When both your data platform and teams are up and running, don’t give in to the temptation to “set it and forget it.” Embrace continuous improvement by regularly evaluating the data strategy and infrastructure. Be prepared to adapt your approach as your needs and the media landscape evolve.
A proactive approach always wins
The Oracle situation demonstrates that even established giants can make decisions that disrupt their partners. That’s why taking a proactive approach to data management is essential. Here are few things to look for and some questions to ask when when selecting a data operations platform:
Data Source Agnostic: Can the platform easily integrate with data sources across different parts of the business to avoid creating silos? Can it swap in alternative sources, if needed, to minimize workflow disruption?
Streamlined Data Management: How does the platform reduce complexity for your team? What is the process for data ingestion, transformation, and analysis?
Domain Expertise: Are they the right strategic partner? Do they bring relevant domain expertise and best practices into your organization? Can they provide the proper levels of support?
Modular Solutions: Does the platform have modules that are tailored to your specific use case such as campaign analytics, inventory forecasting, and revenue insights?
Change is inevitable, but preparation is a choice
Thousands of years ago, an ancient Greek philosopher observed that change is the only constant. But change doesn’t have to derail your business. No matter which platform you choose, be sure to plan for the unexpected. By prioritizing data agility, media companies can build a resilient foundation that is adaptable, responsive, and empowers data-driven decision-making in the face of any future change.
About the Author
Ju-kay Kwek is a leader in creating enterprise-scale data analytics products. Before co-founding Switchboard Software, Ju-kay launched Google BigQuery and was a founding product executive for Google Cloud Platform. Ju-kay uses his expertise in media and audience data to help companies like Spotify, Target, DISH, and Dotdash Meredith.
For years, June’s Pride Month has been a beacon for brands to demonstrate their support for the LGBTQA+ community, often translating into vibrant advertising campaigns across various media outlets focused on these demographics. Historically, these initiatives have served as a celebration of diversity and inclusivity. They’ve also provided a lucrative opportunity for LGBTQA+-themed publishers who saw significant increases in advertising spend during this period.
However, recent trends indicated a significant shift in Pride Month advertising. Brands have increasingly and unfortunately retreated from public LGBTQA+ supportive ad campaigns, influenced by last year’s Bud Light backlash and growing anti-LGBTQA+ legislation. This pullback did not just take the form of a reduction in rainbow-themed products but was deeply reflected in advertising spend. Major players like Target and Starbucks scaled back their Pride-themed offerings and the ripple effect dampened the financial outlook for LGBTQA+-focused advertising this past Pride Month.
Trend analysis: beyond pride month
This retreat hasn’t been confined to June alone. While our data for this period is still pending – a more comprehensive analysis will be available by mid-July – we analyzed advertising spend across 18 LGBTQA+-themed media outlets including national TV, print publications, and online channels, revealing a broader trend that predates Pride Month. In the first four months of 2024 alone, there was a noticeable decrease in advertising commitment. Here’s a detailed data breakdown:
2023 overview
In 2023, the landscape appeared strong, with more than $63 million spent on advertising across selected LGBTQA+ media outlets, marking a 38% increase from the $45.5 million recorded in 2022. Top advertisers such as pharmaceutical brands Biktarby, Spravato, Dovato, Cabenuva, and Apretude significantly contributed, each investing more than $1.8 million.
Early 2024 trends
The momentum shifted in 2024. From January to April, these outlets witnessed a fairly massive 10% decrease in advertising spend compared to the same period in 2023, with $17.9 million spent down from $19.9 million. However, this still represented a 40% increase from the $12.8 million noted between January and April of 2022. Yes, this is better than 2022. But the numbers suggest a volatile advertising environment for these publishers.
Notable declines
Prominent advertisers like Spravato, My Pillow (surprise!), Vitamin Water, and Harlem (an Amazon Prime Video series) slashed budgets almost entirely. This contributed to a collective $2.2 million drop year-over-year. Similarly, Cabenuva and Virgin Voyages cut expenditures by at least 60%, tallying up to a $929K reduction.
Impact on LGBTQA+ publishers
This decrease in advertising spend could be dire for LGBTQA+-focused media outlets that rely on these revenues. These publishers undoubtedly faced a tough loss this year. As brands retreat, the onus falls on LGBTQA+-focused publishers to find new ways to attract and retain advertisers, ensuring they can continue to serve their audiences effectively.
A strategic reassessment
For brands and advertisers, this LGBTQA+ advertising pullback calls for a strategic reassessment. It is crucial to recognize that while immediate reactions to socio-political pressures might seem necessary, they can also undermine long-term brand loyalty and consumer trust, especially within the LGBTQA+ community.
To navigate this complex landscape, brands should consider more sustainable and genuine engagement strategies that extend beyond the confines of Pride Month. This could involve year-round support through consistent representation in advertising, sponsorship of LGBTQA+ events, and partnerships with LGBTQA+ organizations. By integrating inclusivity into the core of their brand ethos, advertisers can build deeper, more authentic connections with their entire customer base.
The road ahead
These advertising insights underscore a cautious approach taken by brands, reflecting a broader hesitation across industries to engage in what has become a politically-charged atmosphere. For LGBTQA+-focused publishers, the challenge will be to navigate this new landscape where traditional peaks in advertising spend are no longer guaranteed. Depending on the 2024 election, we could see even more volatility.
Publishers in this space must now innovate and perhaps look to diversify their brand customer base. With Pride Month shouldering less of the annual revenue, it may be helpful to consider higher impact media types like video and native advertising to help mitigate losses. Above all, media companies should focus on fostering year-round partnerships with brands willing to commit to diversity, equity and inclusion, regardless of the prevailing political climate.
This data not only sheds light on the challenges facing LGBTQA+-focused publishers but also signals a conservative shift across the entire brand landscape, especially during an election year. Heightened scrutiny and polarization have made advertisers more cautious about brand safety– focusing on where and how their ads are displayed. Publishers that provide content with universally appealing themes, such as family, lifestyle, and travel could attract more advertisers, as a result.
Regardless of how many times Google delays its cookie phase out, publishers need to understand what’s at stake for them in the advertising ecosystem post third-party cookies. Media companies also need to be aware of the various data operations strategies then can experiment with to position themselves for success as first-party data moves to the fore.
ArcSpan Technologies analyzed the extent to which the looming deprecation of third-party cookies in digital advertising requires publishers to revamp their audience data operations in order to maintain and grow their sales results. Through quantifying the expected data monetization disruption that digital media companies face over the coming 12-18 months, we found that there are proactive solutions that offer ways publishers can mitigate material revenue losses.
Publisher revenue impact
What’s at stake for media companies
CPMs on Google Chrome will decrease 42%: Based on the value of programmatic advertising over the past eight months based on the presence of third-party cookies (“3PC”) across browsers.
Google Chrome 3PC deprecation puts 25% of publisher’s total revenue at risk: The impact of a 42% decrease in Google Chrome CPMs translates to a 25% overall revenue loss for median publishers in the study.
ArcSpan’s study to measure the impact of cookie deprecation
To measure the potential impact of impending third-party cookie deprecation, ArcSpan analyzed data across a number of top-tier and mid-tier publishers. By dissecting publisher revenue according to channel, browser and cookie presence, we were able to identify the portion of revenue most vulnerable to cookie deprecation.
The analysis looked at the revenue distribution between Direct Sold and Programmatic channels, of which Programmatic is expected to experience the most pronounced revenue impact. ArcSpan observed an average distribution of 20% of revenue stemming from Direct Sales, while 80% was sourced through the programmatic channel.
Next, we analyzed the percent of programmatic impressions and revenue in which third party cookies were present. While these impressions comprised 68% of total programmatic impressions, they accounted for 80% of programmatic revenue. Finally, we isolated the revenue attributable to Chrome browsers in which third-party cookies were present.
CPM decrease with no third-party cookies present
Among the publishers analyzed, a median of 60% percent of total revenue was associated with programmatic impressions delivered via the Chrome browser where third-party cookies were present. This portion of revenue will thus be the most impacted by CPM decreases in the event that third-party cookie deprecation occurs without viable and scalable alternatives.
The analysis further quantified the potential revenue impact by observing CPM differences based on whether third-party cookies were present or absent. According to our research, impressions lacking third-party cookies cleared at 42% lower CPMs. To summarize, ArcSpan identified a potential scenario in which 60% of publisher revenue could decrease by 42%, netting a 25% decrease in overall revenue.
Revenue risk grows to 35% amongst heaviest programmatic and Chrome-driven publishers
While a potential revenue decrease of 25% represents the median in our research, the range of outcomes can vary greatly across the publisher spectrum. ArcSpan highlighted a quartile of publishers who were most at-risk as a result of cookie deprecation. Publishers in this quartile tend to have greater than 95% of revenue sourced via programmatic, and greater than 85% of programmatic revenue coming from Chrome programmatic impressions with third party cookies. For this quartile of publishers, the total revenue at risk increased from 25% to 35%.
Advertising success without third party cookies
Leading media companies are developing strategies to both prepare for a future without third party cookies and mitigate potential revenue losses under those conditions. These strategies typically take the form of a portfolio management approach and upgrading publishers’ revenue operations tools with a focus on first-party data quality, accuracy and scale.
These options can support both direct and programmatic revenue:
First-party revenue best practices
Develop a first party data strategy: Publishers are creating compelling first-party audience segments by processing and organizing contextual, content consumption, engagement, and offline data signals. Publishers are also investing in collecting first party data from their users by offering on-site engagement tools such as surveys and polls, while more premium publishers have been able to acquire registered and even subscription users. They can then develop differentiated data product offerings to both earn data premiums and grow direct sales.
Participate in audience curation opportunities: In this scenario, publishers with and without a direct sales team can feed audiences into curated deals that meet the buy-side needs to target consistent audience definitions at scale across multiple publishers. By partnering with the right platforms, publishers can leverage A.I. and machine learning to automate site content and data processing to create scalable audiences with accuracy and consistency.
Establish an identity framework: Testing different identifiers to determine open auction uplift is critical for publishers. There needs to be a consistent approach to onboard alternative identifiers and measure their incremental impact in programmatic transactions under different scenarios (type of browser, SSP, etc).
Incorporate first-party data signals in the bid stream:While still evolving offerings like Google PPS and Prebid SDA offer an opportunity to push high quality data signals into the bid request and potentially positively influence bidding behavior.
Explore dynamic flooring: Publishers can leverage machine learning in conjunction with their proprietary data signals to optimize programmatic auction prices.
These options have different degrees of impact and different levels of effort to implement. But as a portfolio, they will help drive incremental revenue in a changing environment.
Although Google has (repeatedly) delayed the timeline for Chrome third-party cookie deprecation, leading publishers are keenly aware that they cannot become complacent. ArcSpan’s research highlights the revenue at stake in the event publishers are forced to accept the level of CPMs that are associated with cookieless impressions today. Regardless of a publisher’s level of readiness, it is important that they identify tools and platforms that can comprehensively address the portfolio of strategies that will enable them to protect and grow their revenue.
Video streaming services (SVODs) are entering a new phase of maturity, characterized by moderate growth in an increasingly crowded market. SVODs are shifting their focus from subscriber acquisition to implementing strategies to achieve profitable growth. Marketplace trends show that advertising and bundling services are integral to the next stage in the SVOD landscape.
According to Antenna’s new State of Subscription report, most new SVOD subscribers selected ad-supported tiers in Q4 2023 and Q1 2024. This practice will likely continue, as ad-supported subscriptions account for over half of the gross additions during this period. Notably, 61% of SVOD consumers opted for the ad-supported service, indicating a significant shift toward ad acceptance. Antenna identifies subscribers in four distinct choice groups:
Ad Takers – Always opt for ads.
Ad Avoiders – Never choose ads.
Ad Managers – Mix and match ad-supported and ad-free plans.
Ad Oblivious – Have not encountered an ad choice.
With 38% of subscriptions now ad-supported, reflecting a 7-point increase from 2023, consumers are increasingly open to ad-supported options. This trend is further apparent by the growing segment of Ad Takers, which has increased by 11.2 million since Q1 2022.
Benefits of bundling
Bundling SVOD services proves to be an effective strategy for reducing churn. Disney and Apple observed a 2 to 6-point improvement in churn rates for their bundled services compared to standalone offerings. Bundling Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ helps retain more subscribers than offering each service separately.
Antenna’s Bundle Benefit Ratio (BBR) measures the potential upside of bundling. It suggests that most premium SVODs have more curious customers than committed ones. This indicates the potential for bundled offerings to convert these curious customers into loyal subscribers.
Curious Customers: Users who have either canceled a service or are currently subscribed to a service for 6 months or less.
Committed Customers: Users who have subscribed to a service for over 6 months and have not canceled it before.
All Premium SVODs, except Netflix, have a higher number of Curious Customers compared to Committed Customers. Netflix’s exceptionally low Bundle Benefit Ratio indicates a higher risk of cannibalization from bundled offerings than other services. Notably, Netflix’s bundling strategies have mainly targeted its Ad-Supported tier. Conversely, Starz and Max have the highest ratios of Curious to Committed customers, indicating substantial potential gains from bundling strategies.
Effective acquisition strategies
The method of subscriber acquisition significantly impacts customer lifetime value (CLTV). Users acquired at full price can have CLTVs that are 52% higher than those acquired via free trials. Full-price subscribers tend to have higher retention rates and greater long-term value. In 2022, 65% of SVOD sign-ups came at full price from day one, continuing into 2023 and Q1 2024.
Promotions also play a critical role in driving annual plan uptake. For instance, when discounted in late 2022, the uptake of Max’s (formerly HBO Max) annual plans increased more than fivefold. This demonstrates that well-timed promotions can significantly boost long-term subscriber commitments.
Growth and churn dynamics
The overall growth of SVOD subscriptions has slowed to a more moderate pace, with a 10.2% year-over-year increase compared to 18.8% in 2023. However, specialty SVOD services have outpaced premium ones, growing at 15.8% YoY versus 9.4%. This growth is driven by niche content that appeals to specific audiences, highlighting the importance of content differentiation in the competitive SVOD market.
SVOD services must optimize pricing and packaging strategies to drive healthy performance. Ad-supported tiers will continue to play a crucial role, with increasing consumer acceptance and the potential for significant revenue from advertisements. Bundling and effective acquisition strategies will also be vital in maintaining and growing subscriber bases. The video streaming industry is evolving towards sustainable and profitable growth. As SVOD services navigate the landscape, they must balance subscriber acquisition with retention strategies, leveraging ads, bundles, and pricing tactics to achieve long-term success.
Signal loss makes it increasingly difficult for advertisers to run campaigns across the open web. Traditional methods for prospecting and direct response are particularly impacted, with only 30% of the open web currently being addressable.
This change places advertisers in a challenging position, making it difficult to reach their target audience and maintain brand equity, especially on the open web. However, publishers and broadcasters are uniquely positioned to assist advertisers in navigating these issues, as they have not experienced signal loss.
Media companies have highly engaged audiences and access to a growing variety and volume of behavioral and contextual data points, which are essential for effective audience modeling. Essentially, publishers are the key to achieving 100% addressability and the future of targeting on the open web. However, to maximize the value of these insights, they need tools that foster collaboration and provide advertisers with clarity amidst the chaos.
To gain insights into how publishers are strategically addressing these issues, Permutive gathered four customers and publishing leaders who are reimagining data collaboration. We asked them where they see opportunities and how they are solving the challenges that arise.
Our panel included Stephanie Mazzamaro, VP, Addressability & Premium Programmatic at The Arena Group, Michael Nuzzo, SVP Data Solutions at Hearst Magazines, Josh Peters, Global Head of Commercial Data Strategy and Programmatic Operations at The Washington Post, and Bethany Hillman, Vice President, Data and Advertising Operations at TelevisaUnivision.
Here are the four key insights from that discussion:
1. Solving for signal loss: What advertisers want
The panel’s resoundingly indicated that advertisers are looking to publishers to solve signal loss across the open web and the addressability data gap caused by privacy regulations and third-party cookie deprecation. Josh Peters at The Washington Post emphasized the complexity of these advertiser requests. He said they are seeing varied inquiries about data access and standards and noted the challenge of advocating for better solutions beyond standard industry offerings. He said: “They want the IAB standard. We have to make the case that we actually have something better.”
Stephanie Mazzamaro at The Arena Group stressed the need for standardizing signals. She explained that one of the big initiatives and challenges for the publisher this year is making the signals a standard but still unique. “How do we still create that special sauce and still provide differentiators in the marketplace?, she mused. On the issue of creating standardized audiences – and echoing Mazzamaro’s challenge – Michael Nuzzo at Hearst Magazines said: “Having a single person be one thing, at any given time, is kind of an impossible task.”
Publishers know their audience, and, through the right tech, can connect the dots and provide insights into audiences that advertisers might not realize. Nuzzo believes it’s important to understand who users are at the right time in a given contextual space and expand beyond existing user bases.
He said that “it’s something that advertisers and agencies understand really well: If someone’s reading about dog food, I should serve them a dog food ad. But we also know, through a taxonomy, that people who are interested in dog food are often outdoor runners because they run with their dogs. And so we open up new audiences, and we’re not just pitching these people into a single segment.”
2. Metrics for success: Moving away from clicks
The Arena Group has put a lot of resources into launching “as many IDs as possible” to find its North Star, and has started shifting from page views to addressability metrics, focusing on user engagement and “stickiness.” Highlighting the role of Permutive’s new identity hub in streamlining these efforts, Mazzamarro said her team has been busy finding ways to use contextual with addressable audiences. They are also focused on finding ways to make them stickier and have created a scorecard internally to measure them.
Amid the furor of made-for-advertising sites (MFAs) and external companies deciding the premium status of publishers, is a focus on quality and equipping premium publishers to tell their own story through insights, which can be used at every stage of the sales cycle. Washington Post, for example. is moving towards quality over quantity, emphasizing time spent and exposure. They are also using clean room interactions for better post-campaign analytics and insights.
Peters told the audience the publisher is being more precise with its actions and feedback to advertisers. For example, if an advertiser spends money in one area, Washington Post can point out another area with better performance and time on site, suggesting they focus more there. He said: “That’s what the advertisers are looking for and that’s where the dollars are going to end up.”
The challenge here is different for broadcasters, particularly given the proximity to its end users in the app environment and considering both linear and digital buyers. TelevisaUnivision is packaging digital metrics with traditional video and CTV platforms, aiming to provide comprehensive audience insights and drive better market adoption. “I’m pulling those linear buyers through,” explained Bethany Hillman at TelevisaUnivision. “Not just saying you have to purchase video and big-screen, but giving them the full concept of all the digital metrics, we’re not just looking at households. Pulling that market along has been the most important piece for us.
3. Identity management: Connecting disparate data
TelevisaUnivision and The Arena Group both see identity management as an important part of their strategies, particularly the need for consolidation and easier data access to drive forward resource allocation and storytelling. Referencing Permutive’s Collaboration and Connectivity products, Bethany Hillman at TelevisaUnivision said: “We have offline pieces. I’m calling APIs to get data in. I’m trying to find coverage in different places. For me, the consolidation is going to be huge.”
Nuzzo at Hearst stressed the responsibility of managing identity data, including consent management and internal collaboration to maximize data utility.
It’s important to be transparent about that data, too. Hearst integrates identity and data with media activations, determining value through CPM uplift. Washington Post has developed a dashboard to track audience transactions and contextual performance, providing transparent and actionable insights company-wide.
4. Clean room: Scaled activation versus single solution
Washington Post and The Arena Group both discussed the challenges of adopting and implementing clean room technologies, calling for clear next steps and collaboration to fully leverage these tools. Mazzamaro said “it’s a checkbox” for agencies when they ask if publishers can access clean rooms. It’s always a positive reaction when a publisher says yes, but that agency always runs something else that does not require a clean room. “Working through adoption is really hard as an industry,” explained Mazzamaro.
TelevisaUnivision highlighted a partnership with Home Depot to illustrate the potential of clean rooms but said that “it’s an oxymoron that clean rooms equal data collaboration.” She said: “What I’ve seen so far is you load your data in, and you get a match rate… where I am collaborating on data? My big hope for clean rooms as we stand them up, is that we see the activation, not just from a one-to-one match perspective, but really to see that growth scale and to collaborate for the first time. So what data can I bring to the table to help that person expand their consumers.”
The critical role of data collaboration
In the face of signal loss, publishers and broadcasters play a vital role in addressing advertisers’ needs for audience reach on the open web. As our panelists have discussed, advertisers are coming to them with requests because they possess highly engaged audiences and access to a wealth of data points.
By leveraging data collaboration strategies and connectivity tools, publishers can advance the industry by consolidating disparate data for effective identity management and fully realizing the potential of clean rooms for scaled activation and data collaboration. These strategies will enable the media industry to continue providing effective audience targeting and drive greater success in an evolving digital landscape.
Last month, I co-led a week-long journalism program during which we visited 16 newsrooms, media outlets and tech companies in New York. This study tour provided an in-depth snapshot of the biggest issues facing the media today and offered insights into some of the potential solutions publishers are exploring to address them.
We met with everyone from traditional media players – like The New York Times, Associated Press, CBS and Hearst – to digital providers such as Complex Media and ProPublica, as well as conversations with academics and policy experts. Based upon these visits and conversations, here are four key takeaways about the state of media and content publishing today.
1. Hands-on AI experience matters
Not surprisingly, AI dominated many conversations. Although recent research shows the American public is both skeptical and surprisingly unaware of these tools, the emergence of Generative AI – and the discussions around it – are impossible to ignore.
One mantra oft repeated throughout the week was that everyone in the media will need to be conversant with AI. Despite this, research has shown that many newsrooms are hesitant about adopting these technologies. Others, however, are taking a more proactive approach. “I like playing offense, not defense, Aimee Rinehart, Senior Product Manager AI Strategy at the Associated Press, told us. “Figure out how the tools work and your limits.”
With many media companies having to do more with less, AI can help improve workflows, support labor-intensive work like investigative journalism, as well as streamline and diversify content creation and distribution. By harnessing these AI-powered functions, smaller outlets may benefit the most, given the efficiencies these resource-strapped players may be able to unlock.
Reporting on AI is also an emerging journalistic beat. This is an area more newsrooms are likely to invest in, given AI’s potential to radically reshape our lives. As Hilke Schellmann, an Emmy‑award winning investigative reporter and journalism professor at NYU, told us “we used to hold powerful people to account, now we have to add holding AI accountable.”
Echoing Schellmann’s sentiments, “every journalist should be experimenting with AI,” one ProPublica journalist said. “We owe it to our audience to know what this is capable of.”
2. Demonstrating distinctiveness and value is imperative
One fear of an AI-driven world is that traffic to publishers will tank as Generative Search, and tools like ChatGPT, remove the need for users to visit the sites of creators and information providers. In that environment, distinctiveness, trustworthy and fresh content becomes more valuable than ever. “You need to produce journalism that gives people a reason to show up,” says Ryan Knutson, co-host of The Wall Street Journal’s daily news podcast, The Journal.
In response, publishers will need to demonstrate their expertise and unique voice. That means leaning more into service journalism, exclusives, and formats like explainers, analysis, newsletters, and podcasts.
Bloomberg’s John Authers, exemplifies this in his daily Points of Return newsletter. With more than three decades of experience covering markets and investments, he brings a longitudinal and distinctive human perspective to his reporting. Alongside this, scoops still matter, Authers suggests. After all, “journalism is about finding out something other people don’t know,” he says.
Media players also need to make a more effective case as to why original content needs to be supported and paid for. As Gaetane Michelle Lewis, SEO leader at the Associated Press, put it, “part of our job is communicating to the audience what we have and that you need it.”
For a non-profit like ProPublica that means demonstrating impact. They publish three impact reports a year, and their Annual Report highlights how their work has led to change at a time when “many newsrooms can no longer afford to take on this kind of deep-dive reporting.”
“Our North Star is the potential to make a positive change through impact,” Communications Director, Alexis Stephens, said. And she emphasized how “this form of journalism is critical to democracy.”
The New York Times’ business model is very different but its publisher, A.G. Sulzberger, has similarly advocated for the need for independent journalism. As he put it, “a fully informed society not only makes better decisions but operates with more trust, more empathy, and greater care.”
Given the competition from AI, streaming services, and other sources of attention, media outlets will increasingly need to advocate more forcefully for support through subscriptions, donations, sponsorships, and advertising. In doing this, they’ll need to address what sets them apart from the competition, and why this matters on a wider societal level.
“This is a perilous time for the free press,” Sulzberger told The New Yorker last year. “That reality should animate anyone who understands its central importance in a healthy democracy.”
3. Analytics and accessibility go hand in hand
Against this backdrop, finding and retaining audiences is more important than ever. However, keeping their attention is a major challenge. Data from Chartbeat revealed that half the audiences visiting outlets in their network stay on a site for fewer than 15 seconds.
This has multiple implications. From a revenue perspective, this may mean users aren’t on a page long enough for ad impressions to count. It also challenges outlets to look at how content is produced and presented.
In a world where media providers continue to emphasize growing reader revenues, getting audiences to dig deeper and stay for longer, is essential. “The longer someone reads, the more likely they are to return,” explained Chartbeat’s CMO Jill Nicolson.
There isn’t a magic wand to fix this. Tools for publishers to explore include compelling headlines, effective formats, layout, and linking strategies. Sometimes, Nicolson said, even small modifications can make all the difference.
These efforts don’t just apply to your website. They apply to every medium you use. Brendan Dunne of Complex Media referred to the need for “spicy titles” for episodes of their podcasts and YouTube videos. Julia D’Apolito, Associate Social Editor at Hearst Magazines, shared how their approach to content might be reversed. “We’ve been starting to do social-first projects… and then turning them into an article,” she said, rather than the other way round.
Staff at The New York Times also spoke about the potential for counter-programing. One way to combat news fatigue and avoidance is to shine a light on your non-news content. The success of NYT verticals such as Cooking, Wirecutter, and Games shows how diversifying content can create a more compelling and immersive proposition, making audiences return more often.
Lastly, language and tone matters. As one ProPublica journalist put it, “My editor always says pretend like you’re writing for Sesame Steet. Make things accurate, but simple.” Reflecting on their podcasts, Dunne also stresses the need for accessibility. “People want to feel like they’re part of a group chat, not a lecture,” he said.
Fundamentally, this also means being more audience-centric in the way that stories are approached and told. “Is the angle that’s interesting to us as editors the same as our audiences?” Nicolson asked us. Too often, the data would suggest, it is not.
4. Continued concern about the state of local news
Finally, the challenges faced by local news media, particularly newspapers, emerged in several discussions. Steven Waldman, the Founder and CEO of Rebuild Local News, reminded us that advertising revenue at local newspapers had dropped 82% in two decades. The issue is not “that the readers left the papers,” he said, “it’s that the advertisers did.”
For Waldman, the current crisis is an opportunity not just to “revive local news,” but also to “make better local news.” This means creating a more equitable landscape with content serving a wider range of audiences and making newsrooms more diverse. “Local news is a service profession,” he noted. “You’re serving the community, not the newsroom.”
According to new analysis, the number of partisan-funded outlets designed to appear like impartial news sources (so-called “pink slime” sites) now surpasses the number of genuine local daily newspapers in the USA. This significantly impacts the news and information communities receive, shaping their worldviews and decision-making.
Into this mix, AI is also rearing its ugly head. While it can be hugely beneficial for some media companies—“AI is the assistant I prayed for,” saysParis Brown, associate editor of The Baltimore Times. However, it can also be used to fuel misinformation, accelerating pink slime efforts.
“AI is supercharging lies,” one journalist at ProPublica told us, pointing to the emergence of “cheap fakes” alongside “deep fakes,” as content which can confirm existing biases. The absence of boots on the ground makes it harder for these efforts to be countered. Yet, as Hilke Schellmann, reminded us “in a world where we are going to be swimming in generative text, fact-checking is more important [than ever].”
This emerging battleground makes it all the more important for increased funding for local news. Legislative efforts, increased support from philanthropy, and other mechanisms can all play a role in helping grow and diversify this sector. Steven Waldman puts it plainly: “We have to solve the business model and the trust model at the same time,” he said.
All eyes on the future
The future of media is being written today, and our visit to New York provided a detailed insight into the principles and mindsets that will shape these next few chapters.
From the transformative potential of AI, to the urgent need to demonstrate distinctiveness and value, it is clear that sustainability has to be rooted in adaptability and innovation.
Using tools like AI and Analytics to inform decisions, while balancing this with a commitment to quality and community engagement is crucial. Media companies who fail to harness these technologies are likely to get left behind.
In an AI-driven world, more than ever, publishers need to stand out or risk fading away. Original content, unique voices, counter-programming, being “audience first,” and other strategies can all play a role in this. Simultaneously, media players must also actively advocate for why their original content needs to be funded and paid for.
Our week-long journey through the heart of New York’s media landscape challenged the narrative that news media and journalism are dying. It isn’t. It’s just evolving. And fast.
At this point, publishers know the cookie deprecation drill. You’d be forgiven if you’ve forgotten the very first deadline Google set for deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome. (It was Q2 2022. Believe it or not, they originally announced that deadline in early 2020.) We’ve seen Google extend the deadline twice since then. And they’ve done it yet again. We’re looking at a 2025 deadline, and once more, the digital industry needs to plan and act as though the third time will indeed be the charm.
A shock? Probably not, all things considered. A disappointment? It certainly is for publishers. In reality, publishers have been building their data strategies over the last few years as though each cookie deprecation deadline will be the one. The stakes are simply too high to call Google’s bluff, considering its dominance of the ad market.
But while it’s easy, even understandable, for publishers to feel frustrated by this stop-start process, it’s important to remember every delay gives independent tech providers more time to advance their own identity solutions, and gives publishers more time to experiment and test identity solutions. Digital professionals may consider Google the “800-pound gorilla.” However, by extending the cookie deprecation deadline, it might very well end up losing a few pounds.
To some publishers, Google’s latest move on cookies feels different. According to the company’s official statements, they’ve pushed the deadline to get ahead of compliance and regulation concerns. But as they have in the past, publishers suspect Google is punting because their own solution still isn’t positioned to dominate the identity market. If the old 2024 deadline had stuck, Google would risk ad spend shifting away from its walled garden.
The truth is, Google’s Privacy Sandbox hasn’t caught on in the way some in the industry might have expected. DSPs aren’t spending enough there, and publishers aren’t seeing enough transactions for the Sandbox to be considered “dominant.” Lotame, for one, hasn’t tested the Privacy Sandbox, simply because we’ve seen zero interest and demand from our marketer clients. So why is that? One likely answer is that publishers and advertisers are seeing other cookieless IDs performing as well as or better than the Sandbox itself.
Google hasn’t cornered the market on identity, and the industry is better off for it. Publishers’ revenue needs and business goals are not uniform, so having multiple identity options can improve their chances of finding the solution that helps them thrive and compete in the media ecosystem. When we look at the third-party cookie deprecation timeline, it doesn’t matter “who started it.” What matters is this delay opens the door for more innovation, more options in the marketplace, and more time for publishers to explore those options.
We can’t deny that casting a wide ID net – testing multiple solutions – requires time and resources. But some leading publishers are finding that non-Google IDs are providing them a revenue lift already, and are delivering today while the Sandbox remains a question mark.
It’s just not in publishers’ best interest to sit around and wait for Google to solve their – and its own – identity problems. Publishers need to take matters into their own hands and use this time for testing and experimentation. For those who have found taking action to be daunting, this delay is a gift, and a chance to locate tech partners who can serve their specific needs. Other IDs are demonstrating it’s possible to solve for identity, preserve user-privacy, and drive ad revenue. The time to double down on identity testing is now. Publishers may have to wait for Google, but they can’t wait for performance.
The digital media landscape is on the brink of a transformative shift with the impending phase-out of third-party cookies. Despite Google’s latest delay, adoption is slow while the urgency for adaptation remains high. Teads recently undertook a survey to shed light on the preparedness of global publishers. It reveals a striking disparity in readiness and confidence, and found an alarmingly low level of digital media companies that are prepared for the state of advertising in a cookieless world.
The current digital ad landscape
Teads surveyed 555 publishers across 58 countries, uncovering critical insights. Alarmingly, only 32% of publishers are actively preparing for the cookieless advertising future. This indicates a significant portion of the digital media industry is delaying action, potentially waiting until the deprecation’s full impact becomes unavoidable. However, some organizations are taking proactive measures to be ready for the change.
Confusion and confidence
Our survey reveals that 53% of publishers feel overwhelmed by the numerous cookieless advertising solutions available, and only 28% feel confident in their understanding of the new landscape. This confusion is a significant barrier to effective adaptation. Heather Carver, Chief Revenue Officer at Freestar, notes the importance of developing durable technologies and strategies. “We’re using this time as an opportunity to strengthen our cookieless solutions. We’re focusing on developing durable technologies and strategies that will remain relevant regardless of cookie policies.”
Anticipating the financial impact
Publishers expect the financial implications of the cookieless transition to be substantial. Approximately 45% of publishers expect a significant decrease in ad revenue, with a 120% increase in concern year-over-year. This is underscored by findings that cookieless traffic not only fills less but also yields less, putting revenue streams at risk.
Login struggles
Despite the many challenges media companies face as they prepare for a cookieless advertising future, there is a positive outlook among some publishers. About 44% see the transition as an opportunity to leverage their first-party data and enhance content quality. Furthermore, 37% of respondents appreciate the privacy benefits of cookieless solutions expressing confidence in finding new ways to monetize their content.
Preparation and proactive identity solutions
As publishers adapt to this brave new world, many are experimenting with cookieless solutions and leveraging first-party data to set themselves up for success in the years to come.
Kedar Prabhu, VP of Product Management at Dow Jones, highlights the importance of leveraging first-party data in a world with or without cookies. “By focusing on the wealth of data generated by our direct and long-standing relationships with subscribers, we’ve not only prepared ourselves for the post-cookie world but have also unlocked new opportunities for growth and engagement,” Prabhu said. “We can offer our advertisers targeted, effective ad placements based on direct audiences composed of known users and enriched with real, meaningful insights into preferences and behaviors, all while maintaining the privacy standards that our customers and regulators expect.”
Similarly, the IAB is undertaking efforts to develop standards that support the industry’s transition. Angelina Eng, VP of IAB’s Measurement, Addressability & Data Center, emphasizes the need for robust guidelines: “We see this as a critical time to advance our guidelines and frameworks to support the industry’s transition,” Eng said. “We’re accelerating our efforts to develop standards that address the needs of a cookieless web, ensuring that all parties can navigate this shift smoothly.”
Other publishers, like Freestar, are using this time as an opportunity to strengthen our cookieless solutions. “We’re focusing on developing durable technologies and strategies that will remain relevant regardless of cookie policies,” Carver said. “The extension doesn’t change our momentum. But it allows us more stability for testing and implementing these solutions.”
Tier-specific insights and strategies
The survey also highlights differences in readiness and strategy among various tiers of publishers:
Tier 1 Publishers: Leading the Charge
52% believe the changes offer an opportunity to differentiate through first-party data and content quality.
62% have a signed-in strategy, and 38% employ dedicated resources for cookieless solutions.
74% engage directly with advertisers using first-party data.
Mid-Tier Publishers: Strong Adaptation
74% engage directly with advertisers through first-party data.
32% have a strong grasp of the evolving digital landscape.
36% have specific resources for exploring cookieless technologies.
Lower Tier Publishers: Facing Challenges
Greater dependence on industry solutions like Seller Defined Audiences (SDA).
Only 22% have a strong understanding of the shift towards a cookieless advertising framework.
17% are testing cookieless alternatives, reflecting a slower response to industry changes.
As Simon Klein, Global SVP of Supply at Teads, states, “Despite Google’s recent announcement, the phase-out has only been delayed until early 2025, and the reality of a cookieless world is here,” Klein said. “This data underscores the urgent need for industry-wide adaptation and the critical role of innovative solutions in this transition.”
Digital media executives must adopt innovative technologies and forward-thinking strategies to successfully navigate the realities of a cookieless world. While many are in a wait and see holding pattern, there’s no time to waste. This isn’t a question of when. This change is inevitable. Proactive publishers are not only poised to be ready for the cookieless future of digital advertising, they are employing solutions that are helping them do better business today.
About the author
James is a data leader with over 20 years of experience in digital advertising. As the Global VP of Data at Teads, he leads a team focused on data-driven solutions and the cookieless transition. He previously held senior roles at Microsoft, Verizon, AOL, and Yahoo, excelling in data-driven marketing strategies. A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, James enjoys racing cars, cooking, and traveling.
Programmatic advertising may be the most ubiquitous, influential market in the world. Yet almost nobody, including most of its participants, understands how it actually works. It’s something I cover in a chapter of my new book The Death of Truth. The chapter – which attracted a lot of attention after it was excerpted in WIRED is (appropriately) titled “Buying Blind.” It documents how so many publishers and even marketers are blindsided by the unintended consequences of programmatic’s dominant role in advertising.
Even those working with programmatic advertising every day were surprised at how it can actually undermine the journalism ecosystem. It has created a marketplace in which blue-chip advertisers unknowingly finance the worst peddlers of misinformation and disinformation at the expense of publishers who still care about informing readers.
A striking example of this phenomenon occurred in 2019 when my team discovered that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was the biggest advertiser on Sputnik News, a Kremlin-controlled disinformation website, through its subsidiary Geico. This was, of course, not because of a deliberate decision made by Buffett or executives at Geico. Instead, Geico’s funding for Sputnik came in the form of ads the company inadvertently placed on the Russian disinformation site because of the black hole that is programmatic advertising. Comscore and (my company) NewsGuard have estimated there is $2.6 billion a year in programmatic advertising unintentionally going to publishers of misinformation—revenues that quality news publishers badly need.
Companies like Geico use ad tech tools offered by “Demand Side Platforms” — DSPs — to buy these ads. The largest DSPs, as you might know, are Google and The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk (now a partner with NewsGuard in helping to combat this issue) has real-time bidding technology that uses advanced algorithms and extensive data to place ads across the web at the scale of 5.4 million ads per second. But for all the sophisticated data powering the operations of the DSPs, one crucial detail was overlooked as programmatic was invented and flourished: The identity of the websites where a brand’s ads are placed. This has left advertisers flying blind, sending hundreds, thousands, or even millions of dollars into the ether without knowing where their ads will appear. The result: Ads appearing in environments where studies show they are less likely to get cost-effective responses – and also likely to embarrass the brand.
Exclusion and blocking: Blunt, ineffective advertising tools
Seeing how brands have been burned by placing their ads alongside unsavory content, many advertisers and agencies have taken blunt approaches that range from bad to worse:
One approach involves using “exclusion lists” — a list of websites that an advertiser deems inappropriate — instructing the DSP to block the brand from running its ads on any sites on the list. This approach has some appeal, but it is reactive and never fully effective because, new, hoax websites crop up daily, wreaking havoc on our information ecosystem long before they make it onto an advertiser’s exclusion list. This is true now more than ever as phony websites created by generative AI looking to get in on the programmatic gravy train are popping up every day.
Another approach involves using “keyword blocklists” — lists of sometimes thousands of keywords like “Ukraine,” “war,” “gay” or “Black” that the advertiser deems dangerous. These blocklists instruct the DSP to block ads from appearing on any webpage that contains even just one of these keywords. But studies have shown that news — especially news serving minority or underserved communities — are disproportionately harmed by keyword blocklists.
Worse yet, some advertisers have decided to remove their ads from news altogether by blocking their ads from the entire category. This has the obvious effect of harming the news industry, slashing already dwindling revenues for news outlets. But it also has a negative, dollars-and cents impact on advertisers themselves: Missed opportunity.
According to studies, such as those from the IAB and Stagwell, advertising on news can be highly effective. In a 2020 study, the IAB found that “nearly half of consumers find brands that advertise in the news to be more customer-focused and engaging, more innovative, and relevant to them.” Newsreaders are a large but overlooked demographic: 25% of Americans are “news junkies,” according to recent research by Stagwell. Therefore, any strategy that simply avoids or excludes news is failing to reach a large, engaged audience.
Inclusion creates a better ad ecosystem
There is a better way: Website inclusionlists. Inclusion lists allow advertisers to focus their ad spend on pre-vetted, high-quality websites that align with their brand values and target audience. This ensures better placement and engagement, and ultimately increases the return-on-investment (ROI) of ad campaigns. And, of course, this proactive approach reduces the risk of a brand having its ads appear on low-quality or inappropriate sites, including sites propagating misinformation.
My company, NewsGuard, offers one solution for building a high-quality publisher inclusion list. We deploy a team of expert journalists to rate and review the reliability of news sources across the open web based on a set of apolitical criteria of journalistic practice. Using these ratings for more than 10,000 top news and information sources, NewsGuard offers inclusion lists of highly credible news publishers, which can be activated via pre-bid segments through The Trade Desk, Peer 39, and Comscore, or via private marketplaces of trusted news domain lists in SSPs including Pubmatic, OpenX and Magnite.
Because the focus is on websites that pay attention to best journalistic practices, every member of DCN is probably on NewsGuard’s highest-quality inclusion list.
You should brag about It!
Quality publishers can play their part in advocating for the use of inclusion lists as the superior advertising strategy. Publishers can make advertisers aware of inclusion lists in their advertising marketing materials. Many publishers now signal their trustworthiness to advertisers and readers by including their high score from an independent third party in their marketing materials. They can encourage ad agencies to end the harmful practices of boycotting news or using overly broad keyword blocking. They can work with the supply-side platforms to ensure that only other quality news websites are included in ad buys.
This next, logical evolution in programmatic advertising requires that everyone in the process step up to do their part. Publishers and advertisers would be the most immediate beneficiaries, with news departments getting the revenues they need and brands getting the more efficient purchases they seek. Especially in an election year, we should also keep in mind that democracy will function best with more news resources to support an educated public. Democracy matters. The news matters. And it pays to be the smartest players in the programmatic marketplace
About the author
Steven Brill is the co-founder of NewsGuard. His new book, ”The Death of Truth,” comes out June 4 from Penguin Random House.
Digital media has always been marked by the intersection of creativity and technology. Unfortunately, in many cases that intersection has been a bumpy one. Today, however, there are automation solutions that can allow these two sides of the media business to work together and do better work as a result.
The digital publishing business is at a pivotal crossroads. On one hand, an explosion of creative possibilities facilitated by technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) are enabling personalized, dynamic content at scale. On the other hand, lies the intricate realm of ad operations, where complexity remains consistent, and efficiency and precision are paramount. The gap between creative potential and operational capability must be closed if digital media firms are to compete and scale effectively in today’s market.
The path to a solution starts with an exploration of the relationship between tech-enabled creatives and ad ops and ends with a question: How can organizations strategically synchronize right-brain creativity with left-brain operational efficiency in publishing? The answer is to level the playing field with the power of automation. Bringing both sides of publishing into perfect, tech-powered harmony does more than just streamline workflows. It empowers media firms to navigate the rapid pace of market changes, paving the way for maximum efficiency and operational excellence.
AI’s impact on the publishing business
Reaching the right customer at the right time with the right message is becoming a critical component of advertising success. So critical, it’s driving publishing companies to embrace advanced technologies, particularly AI technologies, to create content at scale like never before. The surge in tech-enabled content combined with the end of third-party cookies is forcing ad ops teams to re-evaluate their operations to keep up. Here’s a closer look at the impact of AI on content creation.
AI enhanced content production and customization at scale
By harnessing AI’s power to analyze data and recognize patterns, publishers can turbocharge content creation, crafting high-quality texts and visuals that are deeply engaging. This tech-enabled approach enhances content production and enables precise audience segmentation. It delivers hyper-personalized content at an unparalleled scale across various formats. All of which substantially boosts efficiency and the impact of content strategies.
How AI affects brand engagement
The creative advancements powered by AI are also profoundly influencing consumer interactions with brands. Relevant, engaging content that aligns with audience preferences and values can substantially boost brand engagement. Engagement which can potentially turn into revenue for brands. The downside is, it creates even more operational challenges for ad ops teams trying to keep up.
Operational challenges with tech-enabled creatives
To reap the benefits of tech-enabled creatives, publishers must fully grasp the challenges they pose to ad ops teams. This understanding is crucial for implementing effective solutions and maximizing the value of creative content in digital media.
Pressure to scale
Traditional manual processes in ad ops (campaign setup, trafficking, performance tracking), become bottlenecks when faced with the scale and speed of AI-driven content production. The pressure to scale operations to match the pace of content generation increases, requiring an equally robust systems in ad ops.
Complexity management
The complexity of content tailored for different audience segments requires meticulous management throughout its lifecycle. Automated systems capable of managing the detailed workflows and large datasets of ad ops are essential for keeping pace with production, and achieving maximum ROI.
Risk of siloed functions
Another significant challenge is the risk of siloed functions within organizations. When advanced creative tools operate independently from operational capabilities, it can create gaps that lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities.
Creative outputs must seamlessly integrate with ad ops systems to prevent campaign delays, performance tracking issues, and scaling challenges. Such disconnects hinder adaptability, affecting competitiveness and growth. Robust automation reduces friction between sales and ops teams translating to improved morale, higher productivity, fewer fire drills, and ultimately – happier clients.
Clearly, there is a critical need for automation. Without integrating automated systems, ad ops teams face delays, increased make-goods, and ultimately a failure to capitalize on the content’s potential.
An Integrated approach nets tangible benefits
As the digital media landscape evolves, integrating advanced automation tools with creative production capabilities becomes increasingly critical. It not only enhances operational efficiencies but also serves as a key driver of revenue growth and scalability. Let’s take a look at the tangible benefits automation can deliver.
Quickly adapting to market changes
With AI’s rise, and content production dramatically increasing, ad ops teams struggle to quickly adapt to market changes. However, according to Theorem’s research, 79% of ad ops professionals think their tools need improvement, and 69% feel digital advertising processes need enhancement. Implementing advanced, automated systems can empower ad ops teams to meet the needs of a constantly evolving market more effectively.
Enhancing data flow
Automation also significantly improves the flow of information between creative teams and ad ops. Centralizing information, as noted by 59% of ad professionals, ensures that data from campaign performances is quickly available to refine ongoing and future campaigns.
Automation drives revenue through operational excellence
Automation not only streamlines operations in ad ops, it significantly enhances ROI. 55% of ad pros in our research noted time-consuming processes as a major pain point. Another 36% reported complex processes slowed their pace of work. By automating tasks such as campaign setup, monitoring, and optimization, businesses can minimize costly mistakes and make-goods that are directly impacting bottom line revenue.
There is also the tangible reward of time saved as a direct result of automation. 56% of ad pros believe implementing automation saves valuable time. Time that can be redirected towards creative and strategic initiatives.
Navigating innovation with automation: the strategic advantage
Media organizations need to remain competitive and responsive in an industry driven by rapid technological advancements. Embracing the symbiotic integration of tech-enabled creatives with automated ad ops can lead to marked improvements in campaign outcomes and overall business performance. Implementing automation isn’t merely about keeping pace. It’s about setting the pace in the journey towards more synchronized, efficient, and responsive operations in publishing. Now is the time to act, to innovate. This will empower your team and your organization to lead now – and well into the future.
