David Kohl’s Post

In this environment, publishers must focus on the factors they can control, advised Jacob. “You cannot control the platforms (ie: Google, Facebook, etc.). The platforms are going to do what they are going to do… But you can control creating great content. You can control collecting good first-party data. You know who your audience is." 📚💡 “Media is a consistency business. You have got to show up and do the same thing every single day over and over and over again. And then, years later, you’ve built a great brand.” 🚀👏 Check out this insightful article by Jacob Donnelly on navigating the digital publishing landscape:https://lnkd.in/etGqwX_K #DigitalPublishing #ContentCreation #AudienceEngagement #MediaIndustry #FirstPartyData #BrandBuilding #Consistency #PublishingStrategies 📰✍️

Thank you to our good friends at Radio Ink Magazine for highlighting Ad Fontes Media recent integration with The Trade Desk which will make it much easier for advertisers and their agencies to include highly reliable, minimally biased news inventory in their programmatic buys. According to Insider Intelligence, news represented 26% of all inventory available in programmatic among the top 200 publishers in Q1 of 2023, eclipsing all other categories including sports and lifestyle. In spite of this, too many advertisers avoid news entirely or block so many keywords (when’s the last time you audited your keyword blocking list?) that they effectively block news. The Trade Desk partnership will allow those advertisers to test their way back into news. As a long time media buyer, I can assure you that any campaign that includes news will outperform every campaign that doesn’t. #journalism is struggling in America today because many advertisers have shied away from advertising in news because of unfounded fears that adjacencies to certain stories could get their brand caught up in the culture wars. The irony here is that the truth is advertising in news will deliver substantial unduplicated reach, unparalled ROAS and growth more efficently then any other type of content and will not expose brands to the risks that are keeping many advertisers away. The partnership with The Trade Desk will allow marketers to prove that to themselves without elaborate and time consuming test setups and in the process support journalism in the war on truth that is reshaping our national discourse in a way that none of us are proud of to the delight of their CFOs, employees, customers and shareholders. #journalismmatters #programmaticadvertising #programmatic Deborah Parenti, Vanessa Otero, Jed Dederick

Verification legitimized marketers' placing ads with media owners they had never heard of inc. MFA. In doing so, they diverted spend away from premium publishers As a result, quality content creation has been defunded Some publishers have had to mitigate this by increasing ad load (rather than sacking journalists) Now verification vendors have a solution for that, too Let's be clear why we're in this mess. It was good to have an opportunity to talk to you about this issue, Jack Benjamin. Thank you. #publishing #journalism #internet #marketing #programmatic #bigroulettewheelofcrap

The 'Iron Law of Digital Media' continues to playout in all sectors of #media. 1. As the cost to produce and distribute digital media approaches zero, https://lnkd.in/gmTAVYNw https://lnkd.in/g_dtVtSz 2. The volume of media produced and distributed approaches infinity, https://lnkd.in/g7-vhqWa 3. Therefore the value of each marginal unit of media approaches zero. https://lnkd.in/gxNw-WtM https://lnkd.in/gGMmPU6J Therefore: A. The only way to survive in the media business is to REDUCE content volume and RAISE prices. or B. All media eventually becomes advertising. 

Publishers around the world are facing a constant battle: balance profit with a great user experience. Intrusive ads, autoplay videos, and unrelated blog links at the bottom of the articles – we've all seen it before. In this blog post, we dive into the context of how we got here, highlight some of the key challenges publishers face today, and what can be done to improve engagement and increase revenue. https://lnkd.in/d-mmtxm7

My friend, Alessandro, and I are often aligned in our thinking about what ills our industry, where there's opportunity, and how to solve some of our most vexing challenges. On his latest AdExchanger editorial, I read and understood his thesis, and would like to add another layer news publishers -- and their brand-side clients -- need to consider. News media is highly-performant for advertisers. Period. Full Stop. News is a lean-in environment where audiences are engaged and active. Consumer responsiveness to advertising in trusted news content is well documented. If you don't believe me, let me share a very clear example from an advertiser that buys news media through TRUSTX. During a three-month trial period, a pharmaceutical brand evaluated their new prescription costs per acquisition ("CPA") on campaigns running in our open exchange. Their agency compared CPA performance in TRUSTX vs. seven other SSPs. For their TRUSTX-targeted campaigns, 59% of this pharma brand's spend was allocated to professional journalism. Comparing CPA performance results between TRUSTX and their other more broadly-targeted campaigns via other SSPs, CPA averaged 58% lower in TRUSTX than the next-best supply path to broad-based open web inventory. That's $31 vs. $74 in ad spend per new prescription. Their news-heavy performance in TRUSTX was 63% lower than the average of all other exchanges combined with the most costly campaign running at $105 per new prescription. While we can't attribute all of the dramatically lower cost per acquisition exclusively to news content, it cannot be argued that CPA performance was much better in TRUSTX where 59% of their campaign spend was against trusted journalism. News performs. Period. Full stop. I fully agree with Alessandro that news publishers aren't charities. Advertisers have a responsibility to steward their precious campaign spend in high-performing content environments. It should therefore be a no-brainer for advertisers to buy news purely for this reason. And sustaining independent, trusted journalism is, indeed, a very worthy cause.

Do You Even Know What Key Words and Content You're Blocking? A key excerpt from Ali Manning piece in AdMonsters where she references some surprising revelations from Ad Fontes Media's Founder and CEO, Vanessa Otero: "The first is ensuring brands and agencies are aware of their investment, or lack thereof, in the news. I recall Vanessa Otero of Ad Fontes Media telling me about the circuitous situation she found herself in when she spoke to a CMO who said she fully supports advertising in news environments, only for Vanessa to turn to the agency and be told that it’s the CMO’s directive not to run ads on news content. "I believe this is systemic across the industry—blocking the news has become a default of sorts, to the point where many people don’t even give it a second thought every time they implement a new ad campaign. So, in a respectful and “just making sure we are all on the same page” manner, we can all call attention to whether news is excluded wholly or only partially limited from a media plan or as a campaign setting. It may turn out no one intends to do it. "Of course, plenty do, in which case we move to the second set of facts that can be surfaced that support the case that the news brings brands much more value than risk. Thankfully, the fact base to back this up is growing." You can read the full article here... https://lnkd.in/epdE9Bxe

Whenever I discuss a topic with David Kohl, being it face to face, via video call or even text, my perspective always ends up richer than when the conversation started. Here is a post by David, adding very valuable thoughts on the value of news media.

"This mode of engagement, where readers spend minutes—not mere seconds—immersing themselves in our content, speaks volumes about the value we offer advertisers." I dive deep into why independent publishers and news platforms represent a critical opportunity for advertisers today. As the co-founder of Man of Many, I've seen firsthand the unique value these entities bring to the table, far beyond traditional ad placements. Despite Australians spending 64% of their online time on the open internet, these platforms only account for only 33% of ad budgets. (source: The Trade Desk Survey - 2023) We're not just another ad space; we're a trusted voice in a crowded digital world, offering credibility, quality content, and a deeply engaged audience. In an era where brand safety and meaningful connections are paramount, aligning with digital publishers is not just a choice but a strategic imperative for agencies and advertisers looking for true impact. Mumbrella #Media #Advertising #IndependentPublishing #Engagement #ManofMany

In the recently published “The State of Sustainable News Businesses report”, by The Rebooting (Brian Morrissey) and Outbrain, traffic loss was cited as the number one threat to publishers. It’s no surprise. Between the changes to the Google search algorithm and the traffic declines from major social platforms, publishers need to double down on efforts to drive direct traffic. Enter Pushly. We help publishers use push notifications to engage audiences directly, driving traffic and revenue. Publishers also cited subscriptions as the most promising area of growth. We can help with that too, btw. https://lnkd.in/eHMB-Pbc #audiencedevelopment #traffic #engagement #pushly