publishers

Apple Rises On The Frustration Of Publishers On Apple News.

For several months Apple is seeking participation from publishers in its premium program. Apple initiated this project a year ago aiming to create audio files of the stories published on its News+ platform. Apple thinks that this will be a great leap in the future of news reading. Nearly four separate publishers have listened to this approach now.

Apple declared that it’s going to handle the production costs. In a statement, Apple said that they will compensate the publishers of audio content in the same way they compensate their Apple News+ publishers for their written content. According to sources Apple pays around 50 % of the revenue amount to publishers which users spend in the duration of 30-days on its Apple News+ platform.

With its approach of audio content on Apple News+ Apple fancied to stay trending in the innovation market. The reason for the adoption of this format is a profound influence by other service providers. Many private websites started publishing podcasts(a digital audio file). It’s the new trend taking over! Therefore, you can imagine why Apple wants it so severely.

This decision received miscellaneous reviews from publishers.

Associates from publishers, who are in conversation with Apple for this project stated that Apple seeks permission to initially choose files for conversion. Most likely, this will be done as per the user’s interest.

They further stated that publishers are in conversation to handle any other obstruction that may subvert the deal. One of the issues which arise relates to the freelancer writers’ articles. Freelance writers compose many articles written in Apple News+. These articles forbid third-party re-usage to users similar to Apple.

Apple is making a huge effort to make this deal happen. Apple wants to lift maximum responsibility to make sure other participants don’t strive, still, Apple faces criticism on several fronts.

Some publishers areskepticalof why Apple audiences will listen to an audio variant of their stories?

Many worry about the compensation, and some just think that it’s not feasible; as listening to audio takes more time than reading an article.

In a statement, an associate from the publication involved in the conversation with Apple stated, he heard Apple stating the following:

“All the publishers who were part of Texture are going to get into an arms race.”

No declaration for the release of the audio files can be provided.

Even Apple has declined to release any official statements regarding this!

苹果可能不是最好的时间来满足the desire of releasing audio stories for its Apple News+. Many publishers have registered dissatisfaction regarding the amount of money they make using Apple News. In a quarterly earnings call, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple announced that they have an increase in their active monthly user.The number has increased to 125 million, which is indeed a wonderful number of audiences. Last year the number of users registered was 90 million. By these reports, you can calculate the tremendous growth in the user base of Apple News+.

With a huge increase in audience, publishers should be getting 50% share of users’ monthly expenses, still, why are publishers showing disappointment with Apple regarding money?

The answer to this could be the Last official announcement made by Apple regarding its users of Apple News, which was 48 hours after the product was launched. In this announcement, Apple stated that they have achieved 200,000subscriptions in just 48 hours. According to a publisher, they just receive$20,000/month, they affirmed this while talking to a channel.

Several publishers shared similar experiences, describing the payment process of Apple News as “horrendous.”

As per the Alliance for Audited Media, publishers can count every download of their issue as a circulation number. The reason for this implies due to the media and ads which remain the same in both the versions.

Increasing speculations, Bloomberg in February reported,Liz Schimel, who was leading the News platform of apple resigned from his job without even completing a year with the organization.

No doubt that the demand for audio formatted content is increasing. Today,SpokenLayer is a star name in producing and distributing audio contents. They stated that their client base has gone wide in just four years. Before, the numbers neared Zero and now they are distributing Audio content over 12 distinct platforms.

Giant techs like Amazon, Google, and Spotify are already leading the audio content game in diverse genres. In some cases, publishers are getting funds directly from Google for composing their audio content.

Publishers Withdraw Ad Inventory From The Market To Protect Ad Prices

Generally, conventional wisdom says a publisher would sell more ad units at a lower price in a weak market. However, publishers are doing the opposite and pulling their inventory to take a short-term revenue hit and protect their inventory price from falling further. This will help their business in the long run by not falling into the trap of price cuts which would be difficult to win back.

程序化的广告市场在运行auction system, lower advertiser demand, and higher web traffic to publishers site has pushed programmatic ad CPM’s down by 10%-20%. Since buyers are now more loyal to price than brands, publishers are preventing prices to tank further to a point of devaluing their inventory over the long term. While some publishers are reducing their inventory in the open market to keep the prices from falling further, others are using ad slots to push internal subscriptions or eliminating ad slots from the pages. For instance, Buzzfeed is getting rid of display ads that receive lower viewability scores.

Unfortunately, the publishers are acting independently and not considering the impact on the broader market. They aim to protect their own inventory prices from falling low as they fear it will take a longer time to return to the previous levels especially if advertisers are buying at a bargain now and unwilling to pay more later when things are back to normal.

As quoted by Digiday, Andy Ellenthal, CEO of the ad sales reporting platform STAQ shares a similar opinion and said, When advertisers return to their normal spending amounts, “they’re going to absolutely remember that a publisher was 25 cents [per thousand impressions] in April of 2020.”

As per the above STAQ graph, the average U.S. display ad CPM in the open auction has fallen from a high of $1.34 on March 1 to $0.91 on May 3.

Even though average CPM has bottomed out on April 8 at $0.83, Andy Ellenthal believes CPM’s will not experience a U-shaped recovery but more of an L-shaped recovery, a slow and steady upward trend. This means publishers whose CPM has fallen least will have to cover the shorter route to return to previous prices.

DigiDay interviewed a few publishing executives and one publishing executive said,

“I’ve got to manage my supply to keep it in balance with demand, and demand has fallen so fast that now we’re trying to get ahead of the game. How much supply can we take off the table to control the CPM without actually truly hurting our business more than it’s hurt now?”

A second publisher executive said that the removal of one ad unit across their sites is equivalent to more than 1 billion monthly impressions. It is a generous number but not significant enough to move the market. Media Math’s DSP sees more than 180 billion impressions each day.

On this Ethenall said,

“These publishers always have to strike a balance between fill and yield. Chances are they are not going to fill 100% of their ad slots right now. If you have a billion impressions that go unsold anyway, what’s the value of them if they’re only pulling down pricing for your better impressions?”

Many publishers have adjusted their floor price to a minimum level at which the inventory can be sold. However, the lower ad demand has made the publishers pull inventory and protect prices as inside programmatic advertising, everything revolves around “Price.”

One of the publishers used to increase floor price by 15% every two weeks since the beginning of Q1. However, in the second half of March, a significant number of impressions went unsold. The publisher could have reduced the price to sell his inventory but he didn’t and said, “in no way do I want to drop my floors to 25 cents because I don’t want crappy ads coming in.”

Lower the ad prices, the higher the chances of giving in to undesirable advertisers who can jeopardize the ability to attract genuine advertisers. Publishers use this opportunity of lower demand to seek out prospective advertisers, but they are wary that lower CPM can alleviate advertiser’s interest in doing programmatic direct or private marketplace deals.

Publishers are also looking at this opportunity to experiment repurposing of impressions that can boost their other businesses and become less reliant on advertisers.For instance, if a publisher can see that house ad proclaiming its subscription product can attract more subscribers and yield than those impressions to advertisers, they would monetize on house campaigns and not take revenue from programmatic advertising.

Advertisers Look For Greater Transparency In Programmatic Ad Buying

Time and again, “Transparency’ has been a cause of concern for advertisers in the programmatic ad buying. This has been a long time pending issue which still remains unresolved as advertisers try to uncover what happens to money spent on programmatic ads.

广告支出下降和广告商再次寻求ing greater transparency into the ad-buying supply chain. Hidden fees, fraud, viewability, and brand safety are the growing concerns that need immediate attention.

Trade body ISBA studies reveal that nearly half (49%) of ad buys disappear before reaching publishers and 34% of this money is the disclosed fees agencies and ad tech vendors take for trading impressions. However, 15% cannot be attributed to what the report called an‘unknown delta’on the supply chain. The amount of money that reaches publishers is lower, as the report did not consider ad fraud and ad viewability.

As reported earlier, a noticeable amount of programmatic dollars doesn’t reach the publishers and it is getting increasingly harder to keep a track of where it goes. The trade body struggled for nine months to gather data from the ad tech vendors to make a report on this and when it received data is was unusable.

PwC collected information for the study was data on 267 million impressions traded between 15 advertisers, eight agencies, five demand-side platforms, six supply-side platforms, and 12 publishers from the Association of Online Publishers from Jan. 1 to 20. March. Of those impressions, only 31 million (12%) were actually analyzed by matching log-level and aggregated data across 290 different supply chains.

PwC reported that it was highly cumbersome and hard to collect data on each impression. Ad tech vendors were conservative in sharing data due non-disclosure agreements and data collected was in different formats making it difficult to trace an advertiser’s money to so many different publishers. The advertisers involved in the study were non-premium 40,525 sites on an average.

Generally, an advertiser or agency decides to buy impressions and pay for them on DSP while publishers use SSP to sell their inventory at advertisers. Data on impressions from these two platforms are matched up and PwC did the same. However, data could not give financial transparency for the advertisers and publishers There were still costs in the‘unknown delta’that remains unidentified on the report. For instance, hidden fees can be a combination of additional ad tech vendor fees, post-auction bid shading, trading deals, and other unknown factors.

As quoted Sam Tomlinson, marketing assurance partner at PwC in DigiDay,

“This is more because the programmatic ecosystem is built on legacy processes that are a mess.”

Graeme Adams, head of media at BT Group said,

“We desperately need to see a common set of standards adopted and more openness in this market, so that every penny spent is accounted for. If this happens, we’ll invest more in the channel; if not, we will cut back and reshape our trading approaches.”

To conduct such high and intense study is a big expense. For instance, It costs more than £1 million ($1.2 million) to collect and process the data from different sources in ISBA’s study. A lot of emphasis is given to attain log file data by marketers. If the ISBA report proves anything that the log file data can reveal everything about transparency and nothing at the same time.

Ruben Schreurs, managing partner at digital media consulting firm Digital Decisions responds to log file data and said,

“Using the overly sophisticated approach of trying to match log-file data in real-time is like buying the IBM Watson supercomputer to calculate 1+1.”

He added that advertisers should have a sensible and valuable approach by running a periodic review of their net spend on publishers and match it with publisher data cumulatively. This will help to get the right and required output to make value-driven decisions on how to optimize the value chain and avoid complicating technologies.

Nevertheless, the report findings can help the adtech industry and give the insight to enhance financial and data transparency as regulators on impressions as regulators dominate.

Steve Chester, director of media and advertising at ISBA said,

“If the ad industry can be seen to be demonstrating that we can create a more open and transparent market then it could avoid the necessity of being regulated.”

Project Agora Partners With Taboola For A New Native Content Solution- ‘Explore More’

Publishers have a new toolin their monetization kitty with the launch ofProject Agora’snew Native Content Solution,Explore More.

Over 15,000 websites use Project Agora’s Native Content feature in partnership withTaboolato drive revenue, increase engagement and page views, and acquire new customers.

What is Explore More?

‘Explore More’ is designed to make mobile users, who are visiting the publisher’s site directly from social media and apps to stay longer and re-engaging them before they exit with the relevant content recommendation.

Explore More serves organic and sponsored content. However, they feature 70% organic content which increases organic re-circulation and improves revenue.

How Beneficial is it?

Explore More has impressive results on smartphones and Tablets.

On Smartphones, it brings 60% uplift in RPM (Revenue per Thousand Pageviews) and 100% uplift in Organic CTR whereas, on Tablets, it brings a 45% uplift in RPM and 30% uplift in Organic CTR.

How to Use it?

It is simple to use for publishers already working with Project Agora by just adding the Explore More feature to the website. Project Agora’s expert team will undertake all the processes, and there is no work needed from the publisher to start seeing immediate results.

Project Agora’s Publishers such as protothema.gr, alon.hu, a1.ro, alwatanvoice.com have already upped their game by implementing Explore More on their mobile websites

Dimitris Tsoukalas, Regional Director MEA, Project Agorasaid,

“超过19个项目集会的出版商,the Middle East and Africa, have already upped their game by implementing Explore More on their mobile websites. In their battle to retain users for as long as possible and increase ad-revenues, Explore More is a no-brainer, quick win for publishers.”

Also Read:Project Agora Co-founds the New EMEA Video Advertising Platform- Union

Publishers Look For New Income Alternatives As Adtech Revenue Declines

Adtech industry has already been in an unstable situation for the past two years loaded with debt. It has been a challenging situation for major tech providers as well. Many of the companies were start-ups, fully leveraged, or hoping to come out with an IPO soon.

COVID-19 pandemic only worsened the situation, for now, companies are to stay above water. Publishers fear that the two-year revenue gains will be over.

With overconsumption of video content, premium ad placements have also declined. The publishers are also concerned about encountering payment uncertainty from ad exchanges and third-party revenue sources.

Co-CEO Rotem Shaul ofPrimiswhich is owned and backed by the Interpublic Group and Universal McCann.shares with Digiday the concerns from publishers and said,

“The publishers we work with are prioritizing safety.”

Therefore, publishers are rapidly finding new and stable ad formats and ad programs across platforms to continue with additional revenue streams ad reduce dependence on one ad format. The new ad format includes native, display, video advertising content, and scrolling videos that give way to new opportunities. Publishers are also using this quarantine time to improve and update the programmatic systems -page loading speeds, update adtech stacks, and refreshing sales team on the latest developments.

首席执行官Roetm扫罗与consumpt补充道ion, publishers should do everything they can and should partner with companies that will continue post-crisis too. They should look for new ways to diversify their adtech portfolio.

All this would have been a little easier to experiment with vendors before the tightening of the economy as they had the luxury of freedom and money to test and determine the best solutions. Currently, the focus is on the cash flow with low pays or no pays, putting pressure on the managers to deliver revenue.

In this down economy, this will lead to a vicious cycle. Publishers will be hesitant to give chance to small vendors for fear of being unpaid or will be enforced for replacement ad tech. With these concerns, publishers will leave small companies and they will lose more money and business which will lead to bankruptcies or shutdown. This will create more worry over working with small vendors and publishers moving to bigger vendors.

Present scenario of publishers

According to Digi Day, Shaul said,“Publishers are frantically moving their businesses to safe havens like Google, Verizon and other big companies.” Companies may not offer the best deals but no uncertainty over the payments.

However, there are vendors like Freewheel (owned by Comcast), SpotX (owned by RTL), or Primis who can offer similar levels of stability. They are equipped to offer attractive deals and keep the revenue stream intact.

Again, Shaul said to DigiDay that at Primis, all publishers want to hear is about security and safety in these uncertain times. He added,

“Even we feel the concerns from publishers. Fortunately, they do categorize us as a big company, as we are a part of IPG, and once they see the letters IPG and know that they will back us up, they relax.”

This unpredictable time will teach new learnings. To drive fresh revenue streams, new ad programs are set up. For ad tech and publishers, these new practices for stability and innovation will be carried forward. The revenue-strapped publishers and vendors will stabilize, then sustain, and once again grow and prosper. It’s all these important learnings that will lay a new foundation for their relationships and campaigns in the future and make stronger business for both sides- vendors and publishers.

Publishers at risk by relying on transactional subscription technology

Transactional technology that enables transactional customer relationship is the base of the digital publishing ecosystem for the past two decades. This is how it works- attracting a reader, showing them a headline or a few words or an article, then coming up with a paywall to buy a short subscription package and moving on.

Every potential subscriber is treated as any other e-commerce customer with the same conversion funnel. We have built complex tech- stacks to support this approach and the ad-focused tools and subscription products remain unchanged and operational at certain levels in the digital customer journey. Till now, the flexibility in the customer experience was never a question. The journey was straight, simple, and direct with a single focus -deliver content, monetize on it, and maintain engagement. However, this transactional approach no longer caters to commercial or customer needs.

Lately, people are accustomed to making their own choices- which product is suitable for them, opt for premium or family packages depending on their needs and likes. The growing subscription economy has altered the way a customer perceives their product and services.

A successful recurring relationship is built on personalization when a customer can choose the product or package right for them and leave the rest. Jim Barksdale rightly said, “There are only two ways to make money in business. One is to bundle, the other is to unbundle.”

Businesses should be able to answer important questions like which one to pick, where, and how.

Presently, to answer the questions, publishers are enforced to hack the existing transactional tools and development teams are still investing their efforts on the complex system instead of building new products to grow revenue. Marketing teams want to explore with fine-tune new customers but are hindered by the same old inflexible technology.

Ultimately, publishers suffer badly due to lack of innovation, low ad -yields, complex technology, high costs, and no personalization for consumers. In simple words, the industry’s technology is unfit and outdated and it is worrisome considering the future is about dynamic products and personalization and automation. By relying on transactional technology with all limitations, publishers are at risk, and growth is restricted in this new economy.

Coronavirus led digital publishing growth

With COVID-19, the subscription economy has changed in six weeks which could have taken longer otherwise. The UK’s largest subscription site, iSubscribe witnessed its digital magazine subscription jump 400 % jump in volume. The traffic to the Financial Times website saw a jump of 250% Y-o-Y in the past month. There is an all-time high in the industry conversion rate.

But the question now is, will this continue post coronavirus crisis when the audiences find themselves with subscriptions that are not required?

So what next to sustain this?

Commercial teams need to set up a highly personalized customer journey without reaching to their technical team for help each time. They should independently learn, test, and change a range of products, packages, and revenue models.

This implies publishers should not rely on years of coding experience to handle but need integration of tools across the customer journey- offering personalized outcomes to every potential subscriber. Publishers need tools that don’t require coding to ensure that every client, prospect, and visitor is handled by the organization and the power to build change is in the hands of the specialists who know the market.

The world’s largest publications are using this platform to get ahead of the curve and be ready to steal the thunder once the markets settle -which might not take too long.

Project Agora Co-founds the New EMEA Video Advertising Platform- Union

Union,五个领先技术provi的合资企业ders has now launched a newvideo advertisingplatform in London for Europe, Middle East and Africa(EMEA) to help local content providers access to video ad spend from global brands who want to support local media at a time when trusted content is the need of the hour for their readers. At the same time, it enables international advertisers to activate video campaigns on the sites that really matter to their local audiences.

Unionempowers local publishers to cater to the premium inventory demand by global brands.With a total of over 300employees located in 34 cities, Union and its founding members – regional technology providers PlayAD, Project Agora, ShowHeroes, Video Intelligence and Viralize enjoystrategic relationships with thousands of local market websitesacross EMEA region providing video content, monetization and technology to publishers.

This strategic partnership helps Union bring a blend of pre-roll and out-stream video formats to the market for advertisers to target. This is achieved using a powerful combination of programmatic and contextual targeting to reach nearly 300 million users on relevant, brand safe and trusted publishers. Union’s publisher partners involve global brands like Marie Claire, Elle, Vanity Fair, and CNN, as well as leading local publishers such as Aller Media, Axel Springer, Stryia, Libero and Funke Media Group.

Steven Fillerhas been announced asManaging Director for Unionand will lead the launch across EMEA focusing on London, Paris and Amsterdam agency buying hubs.

With 20+ years of experience in the digital industry, Filler has held major commercial roles across a range of leading companies including The Guardian, AOL, and upon his appointment, he said:

“The current global crisis has highlighted the continued importance of local quality media in providing the truth and guidance to readers, so that they can be informed citizens. At the same time, advertisers demand more quality, brand safe video inventory and Union makes this possible through a single-entry point while also allowing brands to support the publishers that really matter to their local audiences.”

Odysseas Ntotsikas, founder of Project Agora, said:

“The launch of the Union is further reinforcing and expanding the reach of Project Agora’s mission to Keep the Open Web Open. Local Publishers so far unable to attract advertising budgets from international advertisers and trading desks can now see an uplift in such revenues by working with Project Agora, Union’s founding partner in Central, SE Europe and MEA. For local advertisers looking to advertise out of their home market there is now a unique opportunity to see their brand in the top local sites of every European market that people trust for their news and entertainment”.