The State of Digital Advertising for Publishers_Mixpo
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THE STATE OF
DIGITAL ADVERTISING
FOR PUBLISHERS
2016
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Table of Contents Introduction
10 Digital Advertising Trends for Publishers
1. Video is king
2. Programmatic has evolved from publisher foe to publisher friend
3. Mobile is still a challenge, but for new reasons
4. Publishers rely on Facebook more than ever, but it’s a double-edged sword
5. Cable doubles down on video, while local broadcasters cast a wider net
6. Local publishers value operational simplicity over custom ad products
7. National publishers value custom ad products over operational simplicity
8. More vendors mean less meaningful insights
9. Corporate and field sales teams view attribution differently
10. Ad blocking is a threat, but publishers are unsure of what to do
Conclusion
About the Data
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What keeps America’s top
publishers up at night?
As Facebook replaces the homepage, audiences fragment more than ever, and video and
mobile drive demand and challenge supply, it’s a wonder publishers get any sleep at all.
Never mind ad blocking, ad taxes, ad fraud, and a slew of other threats to digital revenue.
From the outside looking in, publishers seem to be under attack. But if our time is difficult
and perplexing, it is also filled with opportunity.
In April of 2016, Mixpo surveyed over 250 digital advertising professionals employed by
U.S. publishers, and conducted personal interviews with 30 digital advertising executives
from eight of America’s leading media companies. We included managers from various
functions of the digital workflow to get a holistic perspective on the publisher’s digital
reality, and to better understand the needs, challenges, and priorities of their businesses.
What follows are the top ten trends that emerged from our research.
Introduction
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When asked to name the biggest trend in digital,
publishers responded with one word: video.
Digital video advertising will drive nearly $10 billion in
ad spend this year. This is a remarkable 28% increase
over 20151
, making video digital’s fastest-growing ad
format. It remains the gold standard for many brand
advertisers that have relied on television for years.
As audiences and devices digitize, the demand for
video—on all screens—is quickly multiplying.
1VIDEO IS KING
1 Mobile Spearheads Digital Video Advertising’s Growth. eMarketer, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 13 June 2016. <http://
www.emarketer.com/Article/Mobile-Spearheads-Digital-Video-Advertisings-Growth/1013611>
For publishers, this presents challenges and
opportunities. The gap between advertiser demand for
video ads and publisher supply of video inventory is
notable. This seller’s market has made video a valuable
ad product for publishers, but it has also created
pressure to find new ways to deliver video and take full
advantage of 2016’s video boom.
The biggest trend in digital advertising is video. As a TV
company we produce a ton of premium video and the
industry just doesn’t have enough of it, which positions us
well as we look to new product offerings.
Lindsey Lawson, Digital Sales Manager, WESH Television
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Video = Value
When asked to rank ad formats on perceived ROI,
publishers consistently gave video the highest marks.
Survey Question:
In your experience, what digital ad formats have a
high ROI or drive the most revenue? Please rank on a
scale of 1 - 5, with 1 representing High ROI / Revenue
and 5 representing Low ROI / Revenue.
Video (Pre-Roll) Interactive Video
(Pre-Roll)
Rich Media with video
(In-Banner Video)
Rich Media
without video
Display
(Flat Banner Ads)
Social
1 2 3 4 5
High ROI / Revenue Low ROI / Revenue
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Video > Pre-Roll
Digital video’s value is no longer relegated to
pre-roll. For many publishers, in-banner video
and outstream ads have become part of a larger
strategy to fill the supply gap by delivering video
to audiences in traditionally non-video formats.
Mobile Video is Proliferating
Video’s rise to dominance is being driven
by mobile, which will grow by 47% year-
over-year2
as marketing dollars follow
consumers to the small screen.
Facebook Dominates
50% of those surveyed have run video campaigns on
Facebook, compared to only 31% on YouTube. As social
networking has taken over the web, publishers have
responded by distributing their content with both paid
and earned posts on the social network.
Key Findings
Video Grows Beyond O&Os
In the past year, 61% of publishers
have sold video ads as a part of their
audience extension packages.
2
Mobile Spearheads Digital Video Advertising’s Growth. eMarketer, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 13 June 2016.
http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Mobile-Spearheads-Digital-Video-Advertisings-Growth/1013611
Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Google+ Pinterest Vine Snapchat TumblrTwitterYouTube
50.2%
31.1%
17.0%
13.2%
5.5% 4.7% 2.6% 2.1% 1.7% 0.9%
61%
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Takeaway
In 2016, creative and impression quality are experiencing a resurgence. Targeting matters,
but concerns over viewability and audience accuracy have advertisers looking to stand
out on more reliable inventory. In other words: premium video placements on premium
content. Today’s digital publisher can turn a single video into a scalable marketing asset
that serves across TV and various owned and unowned digital channels. This confluence
of video advertising, premium content, and audience targeting has put publishers
(particularly broadcasters) in familiar territory.
Looking Ahead
Successful publishers will create video ad opportunities everywhere they deliver content.
This means making video an option within every ad format, from interactive VPAID
and VPAID 2.0 ads to in-banner video executions. As the lines between digital and
TV advertising blur, those who develop a “video everywhere” approach will be better
positioned to win.
“Today’s digital publisher can turn a single
video into a scalable marketing asset that
serves across TV and various owned and
unowned digital channels.”
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If the first years of programmatic buying
threatened the direct sales businesses of
publishers, then 2016 represents the final
stages of programmatic’s evolution to an
important sales tool. Publishers are fueling
programmatic’s 40% year-over-year growth from
both sides of the transaction. From the supply
side, they offer the quality inventory over which
2
PROGRAMMATIC HAS EVOLVED
FROM PUBLISHER FOE TO
PUBLISHER FRIEND
3
More Than Two-Thirds of US Digital Display Ad Spending Is Programmatic. eMarketer, 5 April 2016. Web.
14 June 2016. http://www.emarketer.com/Article/More-Than-Two-Thirds-of-US-Digital-Display-Ad-Spending-
Programmatic/1013789#sthash.GZ8Zwu2D.dpuf
demand sources compete; from the demand
side, they sell exchange-powered audience
extension campaigns. By both feeding
and benefiting from programmatic buying,
publishers have helped US programmatic
display ad spending grow into a $22 billion
business, or 67% of total display ad spending.3
“By both feeding and benefiting from
programmatic buying, publishers have
helped US programmatic display ad
spending grow into a $22 billion business...”
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Programmatic is no longer just about
“remnant” inventory.
As programmatic buys increase in efficiency and
transparency, CPMs are increasing. As a result,
some publishers are allowing programmatic
buys to compete with direct buys for all available
inventory, and not just remnant inventory.
Mobile is driving programmatic.
Similar to video, mobile is driving the growth of
programmatic ad spending. This year, mobile
programmatic buys will reach $15 billion in the US.
of publishers surveyed currently
leverage programmatic to power
audience extension.
of publishers surveyed do not
currently leverage programmatic
to power audience extension, but
plan to in 2017.
Key Findings
Programmatic is
an opportunity,
not a threat.
For the majority of publishers we interviewed,
programmatically-powered audience extension is their
fastest growing revenue source.
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Takeaway
Savvy publishers are using programmatic buying to increase the yield of both their unsold
and directly-sold inventory. Most programmatic is currently audience-based, but demand
for impression quality has increased the value of content-based buys. As a result, premium
publishers are becoming a prized inventory source for exchanges.
Looking Ahead
Winning with programmatic comes down to execution. Today, most publishers still work
with ad networks, and give up a significant cut of their CPMs to do so. Publishers who
create their own private marketplaces—often comprised of an assortment of inventory
within a larger publisher portfolio—will benefit the most from the increase in demand for
quality inventory. This requires investments in buying infrastructure and data management,
but allows publishers to work directly with buyers to ensure that pricing reflects the value
of access to their inventory.
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For the publishers we interviewed, well over
50% of their digital traffic is mobile. The storied
consumer shift to the small screen was once
a pain point for publishers, many of whom had
poor mobile web experiences and no apps.
Today, this has changed dramatically. Most
publishers have invested in responsive websites
and a variety of mobile apps. Their device-
agnostic approach to content delivery has bred
a device-agnostic approach to sales. In fact,
none of the publishers that we interviewed
package mobile separately from desktop.
Publishers have made major improvements
to their mobile platforms and experiences.
However, many remain at the starting line of
monetizing mobile. Consider that consumers
spend 25% of their time on smartphones, yet
3
MOBILE IS STILL A CHALLENGE,
BUT FOR NEW REASONS
5
Meeker, Mary. Internet Trends 2016 - Code Conference. KPCB, 1 June 2016. Web. 14 June 2016. <http://www.kpcb.com/internet-trends>
6
Facebook Continues to Beat Google in Sending Traffic to Top Publishers. Parse.ly, 15 Dec. 2015. Web. 14 June 2016. <http://blog.
parsely.com/post/2855/facebook-continues-to-beat-google-in-sending-traffic-to-top-publishers/>
the channel grabs just 12% of ad budgets. This
means that there is a $21 billion opportunity
for ad revenue to catch up with media
consumption.5
Closing this gap is one of the biggest
challenges facing publishers—and it’s a difficult
one. In 2016, most mobile traffic will come from
clicks on article links within social feeds.6
As a
result, publishers are often left with one article
to monetize per user, per visit. Most mobile
articles feature one, maybe two ads, and those
ads are smaller and less dynamic than their
desktop counterparts. To top it off, cookie-
based audience targeting doesn’t work well on
mobile devices. Combine the above and you
can begin to understand the publisher’s mobile
monetization challenge.
“...consumers spend 25% of their time on smartphones,
yet the channel grabs just 12% of ad budgets.”
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Device fragmentation is no longer the
top concern for publishers
When asked to rate twelve potential issues
by concern, device fragmentation was among
the least disconcerting issues with 31% of
respondents indicating they are ‘very’ or
‘extremely’ concerned.
Opportunity for better mobile products
Most of the publishers we interviewed said
they are just now beginning to offer ad formats
designed specifically for mobile, and nearly all are
looking for new ad formats to better monetize the
small screen. Granular location-based targeting
and more mobile video ads were cited as
important mobile-specific opportunities.
Key Findings
Devices may not be the
concern, but mobile
consumption patterns are.
While mobile devices may not be the pain point, 48% of
publishers are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ concerned with the
increase in mobile consumption itself*. Less inventory
and less direct traffic can mean less revenue.
*See page 34 for a complete list of issues ranked by publisher concern level.
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“By pairing premium content with impactful
mobile ad opportunities, publishers can play
the supply/demand curve to their favor.”
Takeaway
The consumer shift to mobile has forced publishers to invest heavily in mobile-first
experiences. These efforts have paid off, and publishers are generally confident in their
mobile platforms. This has allowed sellers to include mobile in every pitch, but it has not
mitigated the larger threat to revenue posed by the shift to mobile.
Looking Ahead
Publishers must adopt mobile-first ad formats. Consumers may be arriving at a new
destination (mobile) and from a new source (Facebook), but quality content is still the
great differentiator. By pairing premium content with impactful mobile ad opportunities,
publishers can play the supply/demand curve to their favor. In time, as mobile targeting
improves, audience tracking will combine with better mobile ads to allow publishers to
follow the same formula for success that they have always relied upon: quality content +
premium ad placements + a valuable audience = revenue.
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⁷ Facebook Continues to Beat Google in Sending Traffic to Top Publishers. Parse.ly, 15 Dec. 2015. Web. 14 June 2016.
<http://blog.parsely.com/post/2855/facebook-continues-to-beat-google-in-sending-traffic-to-top-publishers/>
8
Media Companies’ Facebook Reach Has Fallen 42% This Year. SocialFlow, 3 June 2016. Web. 30 June 2016. <http://www.
socialflow.com/media-companies-facebook-reach-has-fallen-42-this-year/>
In the mobile and social age of digital media,
the publishers we interviewed rely heavily
on Facebook to reach their audience. In fact,
Facebook has surpassed Google as the leading
driver of publisher referral traffic. At the close
of 2015, Facebook was responsible for 39% of
publisher traffic, while Google accounted for 34%.7
Not long ago the front pages of news sites
were the primary entry points to publisher
content. Google disrupted this direct traffic with
search, but as the means evolved, both direct
and search traffic arrived primarily via desktop,
and both relied on the integrity of publisher’s
brand to surface content. That content lived
on pages with many ad units and sponsorship
opportunities, which drove meaningful revenue
for publishers.
Today, Facebook’s News Feed has changed
all of this. Publishers no longer have control
over distribution and can’t rely on SEO to help.
4
PUBLISHERS RELY ON FACEBOOK
MORE THAN EVER,
BUT IT’S A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
Instead, opaque algorithms filter stories to the
“right” audiences; the right audiences on mobile
devices. This shift causes anxiety for publishers
for two reasons:
1. Traffic to publisher sites can be easily
disrupted. Publishers are well-aware of
constant algorithm changes, which became
even more evident as Facebook recently
made changes to its algorithm that resulted
in publisher content losing prominence,
significantly reducing traffic to their sites.8
2. The new user path to content reduces
opportunities for monetization. Clicks on
article links from Facebook’s mobile app drives
users to small screens with few ads, and when
users turn back to their news feed to browse
more content, they turn back to the competing
headlines within Facebook rather than the
publisher’s front page.
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Instant Articles may help, but
publishers are skeptical.
While the improved user experience of Instant Articles sounds compelling, publishers are wary of
becoming dependent on third-party platforms that define how their content is monetized.
Key Findings
9
Premium Editorial Websites Drive Highest Consumer Engagement with Mobile Advertising. Teads, 20 June.
2016. Web. 14 June 2016. <http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/premium-editorial-websites-drive-highest-
consumer-engagement-with-mobile-advertising-300287108.html>
Consumers coming from social “snack”
on content, rather than dive in
As consumers increasingly adopt Facebook
as the new “front page” for news, they tend to
click on articles and bounce back to Facebook
without diving deeper into other content.
Ads within publisher content still work
Recent studies have demonstrated that users spend
24% more time watching video ads within premium
publisher content on websites than they do watching
video ads in social feeds.9
While Facebook is now
the content entry point, ads served within premium
content still deliver enormous value that publishers
want to retain.
of publishers we surveyed use
or plan to use Instant Articles.13.6%
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Takeaway
Social media is the second wave of a shift away from direct traffic that began with Google.
Facebook is central to this shift, dramatically outpacing Twitter as the social leader in how
people discover and consume publisher content. While social distribution helps publishers
grow mobile traffic, and perhaps even exposes their content to new audiences, it has also
left publishers vulnerable and eliminated significant money-making opportunities.
Looking Ahead
Publishers create high-quality content, and without it, Facebook loses value. Facebook is
the most effective way to reach a large digital audience, and without this ability, publishers
lose value. This is the 2016 media dynamic.
For both sides to win, publishers and Facebook must leverage their complementary
strengths to develop a mutually-beneficial relationship. Right now, publishers that succeed
in getting users to actively share their content will benefit most from Facebook. Looking
ahead, the answer may be people-based targeting.
Cookie-based audience targeting is becoming a publisher limitation. Cookies work on
desktop and provide the data behind most audience extension buys. However, cookies
“...most audience targeting is relegated to the
desktop even though most traffic comes from
mobile. Facebook may be able to solve this.”
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don’t track people’s digital habits on mobile devices. This is compounded as users move
from device to device throughout their day, with no way to recognize the same user on
different devices. As a result, most audience targeting is relegated to the desktop even
though most traffic comes from mobile.
People-based targeting, through sites such as Facebook, may be able to solve this.
Unlike cookies, login information is consistent across device. When someone signs into
Facebook on their desktop and their smartphone, a connection exists between those
devices through the single user login ID. As people-based targeting allows publishers to
access this cross-device data, publishers will learn about the actual people who comprise
their audience. It will help them understand the value of their traffic, develop and deliver
targeted content to audience subsets, and even extend monetization into Facebook by
selling re-targeted ads within the News Feed.
It’s early, but Facebook needs publishers as much as publishers need Facebook. A
solution, whether it’s a new approach to encouraging “network effect” content distribution,
people-based targeting, or something yet defined, must eventually balance power
between Facebook and the publishers who fill its News Feed.
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Publishers exist in a cluttered digital ecosystem.
Amidst the noise of display, social, search,
programmatic, and native, it’s a real challenge to
carve out a digital niche. Our interviews revealed a
notable difference between how cable companies
and local broadcasters are addressing this challenge.
5
CABLE DOUBLES DOWN ON VIDEO,
WHILE LOCAL BROADCASTERS
CAST A WIDER NET
Key Findings
Cable companies are
focused on video
As cable companies further digitize their
programming, many are focusing their
digital sales efforts almost entirely on
video. On one end of the sales spectrum,
this means training local TV sellers to
position digital as a natural extension
of each cable buy. On the other end,
it means introducing new streaming
ad opportunities, and blurring the lines
between on-air and online viewing.
Local broadcasters are
becoming local agencies
Local broadcasters are positioning
themselves in a manner similar to that
of an advertising agency by becoming
a one-stop shop for advertisers with
products related to all types of media—
including TV, display, audience targeting,
social, search, and email products.
“As cable companies further digitize
their programming, many are focusing
their digital sales efforts almost
entirely on video.”
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Takeaway
The first step in a positioning strategy is to identify the core strengths that make you
unique. For cable companies, this means delivering video at scale. As a result, in-banner
video and pre-roll are the core products in their digital toolkits. Impression volume, minutes
watched and completion rates are more important than clicks or engagement. This
approach allows cable sellers to provide the reach and exposure details that supplement
on-air campaigns, and tell a consistent video story across channel. For many local
broadcasters, on the other hand, positioning is about becoming the local digital expert
for their advertisers. This means diversifying their offering to capture a greater share
of budgets. As a result, broadcast sales teams are becoming more educated on more
products. In fact, many local sellers are AdWords certified and IAB certified, as well as
educated on engagement, direct response, audience extension, and a number of other
digital sales tools.
Looking Ahead
Both cable and broadcast sellers will have to refine how they position their offering to win
in a crowded media environment. Whether it’s compounding video reach, driving direct
response, or becoming a one-stop-digital-shop for local advertisers, publishers must
define their core strengths to carve out a digital niche.
“...many local sellers are AdWords certified and IAB
certified, as well as educated on engagement,
direct response, audience extension...”
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Many of the local publishers we spoke with are
actively paring down their vendor lists to reduce
ad tech taxes and simplify campaign workflow. It’s
common for a single ad campaign to use many
creative and analytics vendors. This makes creative
consistency across devices a challenge, and
interpreting campaign performance difficult. During
interviews, several publishers noted that they are
willing to limit creative freedom and even eliminate
high-impact ad formats altogether if it will help them
run more seamless campaigns. In short, the days of
having a different vendor for each ad type, device,
and metric seem to be numbered.
6
LOCAL PUBLISHERS VALUE
OPERATIONAL SIMPLICITY OVER
CUSTOM AD PRODUCTS
Key Findings
Multiple vendors are the norm
Nearly 54% of publishers surveyed
work with at least four ad tech vendors,
and 5% work with more than 16.
Campaign complexity is
a pain point
44% of publishers indicate being
“very” or “extremely” concerned
with the sheer complexity of digital
campaign execution.
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Takeaway
Local publishers rely on third-party vendors more than ever to deliver digital ad campaigns.
For years, these vendors focused on a niche purpose, such as geo-targeting or mobile
ads, and they partnered directly with individual stations on one-off deals. This dynamic has
created a lack of consistency across publisher properties. As digital operations mature, this
disjointed structure is a problem that publishers are looking to solve.
Looking Ahead
2016 will be a year of vendor consolidation for many publishers. This begins with
eliminating duplication, but it also includes demanding more from the ad tech partners
that remain. As a result, a new breed of technology companies that fulfill a larger array of
publisher needs is emerging. These companies operate as part technology company, part
consultant to help publishers increase efficiency without sacrificing capabilities.
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National publishers are better equipped to handle
the operational complexities that challenge local
publishers. Like their local counterparts, the
national ad ops managers that we interviewed
also bemoan having too many vendors. Unlike
their local counterparts, however, they are willing
to tolerate complicated workflows if it allows them
to accommodate every RFP. Large brands and
agencies demand unique, and often more complex
campaigns. As a result, national publishers place a
greater emphasis on custom ad formats than they
do on simplicity.
7
NATIONAL PUBLISHERS VALUE
CUSTOM AD PRODUCTS OVER
OPERATIONAL SIMPLICITY
Key Findings
Creative freedom
trumps simplicity
National publishers are unwilling to
limit creative freedom and will work
with many vendors to execute on a
variety of high-impact ad formats.
Specs still matter
Even though national publishers like
to feature “custom” ad opportunities,
most are beginning to formalize these
unique ad products with specs and
templates to make them easier to
execute.
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Takeaway
The national media buying game is competitive. Big agencies make big asks when it
comes to creative and performance. As a result, national publishers build long vendor lists
in an effort to arm themselves with solutions for every scenario.
Looking Ahead
National publishers must be innovative to be relevant—it’s a cost of doing business
with big agencies and advertisers. That said, they can avoid operational complexity by
standardizing their “custom” ad products. This means developing deeper relationships with
one or two vendors to proactively define products, rather than reactively ask, “who can
pull this off?” to a long list of potential suitors. By defining an ad product catalog with their
unique identity in mind, national publishers can arm account planners with products that
scale, and simplify campaign execution for sales and ad ops teams.
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A consolidated dashboard of all platform metrics is
essential in today’s competitive digital space.
Elizabeth Bernberg, Digital Specialist, CBS Corporation
Publishers of all types are faced with a consistent
challenge: a lack of consolidated reporting.
Pulling and making sense of reports from multiple
vendors is difficult. Metric definitions from partner
to partner vary, and there are often discrepancies
in the metrics themselves. This dynamic reduces
confidence in a campaign performance, and
some sellers prefer to stick with poor CTRs over
confusing their advertisers (or themselves) with
advanced analytics.
MORE VENDORS MEAN LESS
MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS
Key Findings
In the age of rich data,
publishers stick with
the basics
For the most part, publishers
rely on ad server reporting
exclusively, meaning they are
defining campaign performance
by fulfillment of impression goals
and paltry click-through rates.
There is a lack of
consensus on which
metrics matter
For digital branding campaigns,
reach and frequency hold a
slim lead over engagement
as the preferred metrics. For
direct response campaigns,
clickthrough rate and
engagement rate are head-to-
head as the go-to metric.
8
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Reach and
Frequency
Reach and
Frequency
Most important metrics when
measuring a campaign
Survey question:
What metrics are most important when measuring a digital branding / direct
response campaign? Please rank on a scale of 1-6, with 1 representing most
important and 6 representing least important.
Engagement
Rate
Engagement
Rate
Clickthrough
Rate
Clickthrough
Rate
Cost Per Metrics
(CPC, CPM, CPA)
Cost Per Metrics
(CPC, CPM, CPA)
Video Completion
Rate
Video Completion
Rate
Total Minutes Watched/
Time Spent With The AD
Total Minutes Watched/
Time Spent With The AD
Direct Response Campaign
Branded Campaign 1 2 3 4 5 6
Most Important Least Important
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Takeaway
Performing an apples to apples comparison of reports from multiple vendors has become
a fundamental problem for publishers. Differences in ad formats, analytic tools, metric
definitions and device capabilities creates confusion. What qualifies as an interaction with
one vendor is nothing more than a mouse skimming over an ad for another vendor. In
this inconsistent environment, it’s no wonder that publishers often stick to the basics. The
problem with the basics, however, is that impression goals and clickthrough rates only
tell a fraction of the story for most digital campaigns. Improving reporting comprehension
could go a long way toward driving renewals for publishers.
Looking Ahead
Until sellers and advertisers understand all of the advanced metrics available—from
engagement to viewability and beyond—campaigns will continue to utilize the wrong
KPIs and miss opportunities. Publishers must better educate their sales teams on digital
analytics and performance measurement. They must also begin to pressure ad tech
and industry groups to set standards for metric definitions. As sellers better understand
performance, and learn to pair ad products with campaign goals, publishers will win.
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Attribution has been a marketing buzzword
for a long time. In the digital era, where data is
abundant, the pressure for publishers to prove
their value in the sales chain is greater than
ever. The publishers we interviewed cite this as
a major concern. That said, how you view this
concern is impacted by whether you sit in the
corporate office or are in the field selling.
Publishers have traditionally been successful
by delivering quality content to quality
9
CORPORATE AND FIELD
SALES TEAMS VIEW
ATTRIBUTION DIFFERENTLY
audiences at scale. Corporate managers
recognize the brand lift these activities
produce for advertisers, and are generally
reluctant to shift their value proposition to
conversions. This reluctance is practical, as
most publisher ad products are designed
for branding, and not direct response. Field
sellers are up against products that do define
value by conversions, and view their inability
to compete on this level as a weakness.
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Corporate executives stop short of
tying publisher value to an actual sale.
Without the scale to compete with the pay-per-
click direct response products such as Google
AdWords, publisher executives are wary of
relying on a sales conversion KPI.
Attribution is a
major concern
of publishers.
Sellers view their inability to report on
sales attribution as a weakness.
Field sales are often pressed to demonstrate
ROI, and are eager to demonstrate their impact
on conversions.
Key Findings
of publishers that were
“very” to “extremely” concerned.
of publishers that were
“not at all” to “slightly” concerned.
69% 11%
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Takeaway
Regardless of which perspective is right, most publishers are working to move beyond
impressions and clicks to better communicate value. This should help better define the
publisher’s role in the attribution chain. It is also important that advertisers have a strategy
and look to campaign insights beyond the click to define performance.
Looking Ahead
The topic of attribution will remain a top concern for publishers, but that doesn’t mean
they should adopt every new direct response tool to “get in the game”. Advertisers know
that their display ad and digital video campaigns impact sales, but it’s digital’s access to
data that raises the bar for proof. As cross-channel audience identification improves, so
will attribution. In time, publishers can expect to receive more credit for their role in the
customer journey. Expect TV to experience a similar shift to accountability in the near-term
as on-air products digitize.
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Ad blocking is a hot topic, but despite its recent
surge in coverage, the publishers we interviewed
did not cite it as a top concern. Ad blocking seems
to be what viewability was for publishers three years
ago. It’s a big topic of conversation and a problem
that they know will have to be dealt with, but for
now, it’s not impacting revenue in a meaningful way.
As one publisher put it, it is not “at a boil yet.” The
general perspective is that publishers provide content
to consumers for free because of advertising. If
consumers are both unwilling to pay for content and
unwilling to see ads, then publishers will have to be
unwilling to provide them with content.
10
AD BLOCKING IS A THREAT,
BUT PUBLISHERS ARE UNSURE
OF WHAT TO DO
Key Findings
Ad blocking is a threat.
46% of publishers said ad blocking
is either “extremely” or “very”
concerning.
On the long list of publisher
concerns, ad blocking isn’t at
the top.
Publishers are feeling more urgency
to address new(er) advances such
as viewability, attribution and
measurement, and ad fraud and bots,
than they are ad blocking.
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Takeaway
With the many challenges that publishers are facing, ad blocking is lower on the
list. Ad blocking is one of the most serious threats to the industry, but alongside ad
fraud, viewability, monetizing mobile, creating more video inventory, and stabilizing
operations, it just isn’t at the top of the list for most publishers yet.
Looking Ahead
Ad blocking will evolve into a topic worth addressing sooner than later. 2017 may
be that year, as new studies and industry accountability groups begin to define ad
blocking’s impact on publishers. eMarketer estimates that 69.8 million Americans will
use an ad blocker in 2016, a jump of 34.4% over last year. Next year, that figure will
grow another 24% to 86.6 million people.10
As these realities set in, publishers will
have to adopt new strategies. Some larger publishers will have the ability to introduce
ad-free digital experiences for a premium subscription, but this approach will not scale
across the publisher ecosystem. An alternative will be for publishers to place more
emphasis on native ads and branded content as sales products. Another will be for
publishers to install ad blocker detection tools to create a barrier to content until they
are whitelisted by consumers.
10
US Ad Blocking to Jump by Double Digits This Year. eMarketer, 21 June. 2016. Web. 22 June 2016. <http://www.
emarketer.com/Article/Ad-Blocking-Jump-by-Double-Digits-This-Year/1014111?ecid=NL1001>
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The world of digital continues
to spin at a remarkable pace.
The good news is that the business of digital advertising is maturing and publishers are
beginning to operationalize in a much more thoughtful way than they had in past years. This
means simplifying sales pitches, reducing vendor duplication, making programmatic work
for them, and creating elegant video and mobile ad experiences that meet market demand.
At the same time, publishers are under attack like never before as Facebook replaces
them as the daily homepage for information, and mobile consumption disrupts ad formats
and inventory volume. Those who will win in 2016 and beyond will be those who produce
premium content to demonstrate the quality of their audience, brand and inventory.
It will be those who turn threats into opportunities by leveraging social and mobile to
grow audience. It will be those who create operational clarity by consolidating vendor
relationships to reduce duplication and streamline workflow. Importantly, it will be those
who both develop ad product catalogs that scale with market demand and invest in
educating their teams to increase their human and product value to advertisers at every
point of a campaign, from pre-sales concepts to post-campaign performance translation.
Conclusion
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About the Data
In April of 2016, we surveyed over 250 advertising professionals employed by U.S. media
companies to better understand their needs, challenges, and priorities guiding their
advertising endeavors.
Representative of the larger industry, 63% of our respondents came from local media
companies with the remaining 37% hailing from larger, national media companies. Our
respondents represent a range of responsibilities, from individual contributors to executive
leadership, and the majority work in sales (51%) and marketing (20%).
Of the companies represented by our respondents, 96% buy or sell digital ads and 85%
buy or sell TV or traditional media sponsorships that include digital. Less than 2% are not
involved in video ad formats.
To dive deeper into the insights of this nationwide survey, we then conducted personal
interviews with 30 digital executives and sellers across eight well-known media
companies. These qualitative insights revealed the reasoning behind the trends we saw
with the survey data and informed our top 10 takeaways seen in this report.
Total Survey Respondents
263
Local media companies
Product Offerings
National media companies
Department
Sales
51% 96%
85%
63%
20%37%
Marketing
Publisher Type
Buy or sell digital ads
Buy or sell TV or traditional media
sponsorships that include digital
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What keeps publishers up at night?
The issues facing publishers today are vast and
interrelated. When asked how concerned are you with the
following, 31% - 69% said they were “extremely” or “very”
concerned with every one of the twelve issues.
Extremely Concerned
Very Concerned
Moderately Concerned
Slightly Concerned
Not at All Concerned
Attribution and measurement
Ad blocking
Ad fraud and bots
Viewability
Commoditization of inventory
0% 50%25% 75% 100%
Increase in mobile consumption
Device fragmentation
Lack of quality video inventory
Lack of quality display inventory
Lack of quality mobile inventory
Complexity of digital campaign execution
Rise of social media
