• Yahoo and Taboola Enter 30-Year-Old Commercial Agreement, Developing a Leading Offering for Advertisers and Publishers

Together Yahoo and Taboola are forming a contextual data powerhouse to reach consumers, important as cookies go extinct. As advertisers want to reach consumers at massive scale, but shouldn’t have to be trapped in walled gardens, this deal gives them massive scale from two trusted pioneers.

• Ad Consent Now a Top Issue for Publishers

Consent will be a critical issue for publishers next year, according to Richard Reeves, managing director of the Association of Online Publishers (AOP).  Specifically, Reeves means informed programmatic ad consent, as opposed to, say, email opt-in. Publishers are seeking tech solutions that “do not rely on personally identifiable information,” Reeves said in an interview with the UK’s PressGazette.  

• Publishers Are Adapting Advertising Strategies for a Privacy-First World

So much of the attention around the death of third-party cookies and its impact on the digital advertising industry is focused on the implications for brands and consumers, which is far from the complete picture. The digital publishing industry in the U.S. is massive and set to be shaken up as it heads into the cookieless future. However, for those publishers that leverage the right technologies, the death of cookies should be seen as an opportunity to generate new revenue streams and rebuild trust with their readers.

• Publishers Are Turning to Headless CMS Solutions: Here’s Why

A headless system lets publishers store their content in one place, but distribute to any frontend. With more and more digital channels and devices available to consumers, publishers have had to adapt their publishing processes to reach audiences where they spend their time. This has led to a rise in demand for headless content management systems (CMS) that store content centrally, but distribute it across multiple display options.

• ‘Growth has persisted’: Continued Increase in Digital Content Consumption Indicates Potential for Greater Ad Revenues

The digital habits people worldwide picked during the pandemic have persisted. A new report shares how the continued rise in the use of digital content creates ongoing opportunities for publishers. “Global digital content consumption continues to soar,”—55% of people report spending more time each day consuming content now than they did pre-pandemic, according to a new report by data and analytics platform, DoubleVerify. Further, two of three (66%) say they intend to continue pursuing online hobbies they began during the pandemic.

• Google Publishes Guidelines for Its Ranking Systems

Google has published a help document that outlines its “notable” ranking systems deployed throughout the years. Some of them are still in use today, while others are not. The list outlines how the company defines each system, how it is used, and what it means for Google Search. The document, A guide to Google Search ranking systems, lists the ranking systems currently used in Google Search, and those that the company retired.

• Why Identity-Driven Clean Rooms May Be Part of the Solution to Marketing’s Challenges

As privacy regulations and browsers crack down on third-party cookies, marketers are searching for alternative solutions that will help them better understand audiences. Enter identity-driven data clean rooms, which many marketers believe will serve as a more privacy-focused method for analyzing and activating customer data.

• Advertisers Oppose Privacy Rules, Watchdogs Call for Curbs

The ad industry and advocacy groups on Monday weighed in with the Federal Trade Commission on potential new privacy rules, with the ad industry voicing opposition to possible regulations, but consumer advocates contending that new rules are needed.

• Google Ads Cost Per Leads Rose for 91% of Industries Analyzed

The cost per lead has increased significantly, with 21 of 23 industries seeing an increase year-over-year. The average overall increase — 19% — is significantly higher than last year’s increase of 5%, in contrast to 2020’s decrease of 4%, but similar to 2019’s increase of 21%, according to a benchmark study from WordStream by LOCALiQ.

• Survey: Email Marketing Provides the Best ROI

There’s building for the future — that is, doing the foundational work that will pay untold dividends down a strictly-sunny road — and then there’s planning for the future. Planning requires keeping the rainy-day forecast in mind and taking necessary precautions. And with the current concerns of a recession looming, those planning considerations are being revisited or reconsidered all over the globe in many industries

• 1 Year Later – Identity Adoption Urgency Doubles for Publishers and Marketers: Global Study

Lotame recently released findings from its ‘Beyond the Cookie: Next Generation Customer Acquisition & Retention for Marketers & Publishers’ report. This third report in the ‘Beyond the Cookie’ research series examines how marketers and publishers are addressing customer acquisition and retention in the runup to a post third-party cookie digital advertising landscape. Conducted in September 2022, the report polled over 1,400 respondents across seven global markets (U.S, UK, Mexico, Australia, Colombia, India and Singapore) to examine identity’s role in the cookieless future, how they are building a next-gen tech stack and their advertising investments today and in the future.

• Some Readers Are Canceling Digital Subscriptions

Readers are pruning the number of digital publications they subscribe to, according to a new study by Toolkits and National Research Group.  Of consumers polled, 29% plan to reduce the number of online subscriptions they hold by the end of the year, 16% significantly so. However, 27% expect to add to the number, and 44% will maintain their totals.

• The Challenges of First-Party Data Capture and Strategy

A report from Merkle is again shining a light on brands and marketers as they operate amidst ongoing privacy issues, though the surprising takeaway may just be the seemingly lack of concern some are showing. The Q4 2022 Performance Media Report surveyed 250 “marketing decision-makers” across a variety of industries to gauge their mood and methods. Of those, only 29% said they strongly agreed with the statement: I’m concerned about the impact of the cookieless future on my business

• Google Topics Attracts Marketers, Publishers As Identity Adoption Becomes Urgent

Google Topics, the newest entrant to the identity space, is the most popular solution when it comes to compliance with privacy regulations to identify and target consumers with ads. It’s actively used or tested by 71% of respondents to a recent Lotame study. The use of probabilistic or predictive solutions like Cohorts, contextual, authenticated email-based and Google Topics has grown 50% year-over-year (YoY), demonstrating a larger jump than any other identity category.

• Web Summit 2022: Five Takeaways for Publishers

We’ve just returned from a week in Lisbon attending the Web Summit. We will be posting a number of in-depth features from the event in due course, but below are some key ‘front of mind’ takeaways. Bottom line: Publishers need to rebuild audience trust and micropayments could soon have their day in the sun. The publisher track featured presentations and panel interviews with a raft of publishers including Vice, Axios, Washington Post, TechCrunch, Teen Vogue, The Atlantic, Fast Company, and more. Here are five key front-of-mind takeaways.

• Why 2023 Will Usher in a Third-Party Data Renaissance

Marketers have been riding a years-long roller coaster regarding new privacy laws and policies governing how they can use data to guide their campaigns and customer relationships. At every turn, they’ve received a constant piece of advice: to avoid disruption in third-party data availability, build first-party data assets.  While that’s good advice for many marketers, it’s also not enough. For most brands, third-party data is still a fundamental requirement for enriching and scaling the information they use for effective marketing, particularly acquisition efforts.

• Google Ads Data Hub Becomes Two Offerings With Distinct Focuses

Google Ads Data Hub (ADH), a cloud measurement solution based on privacy, will become two separate dedicated platforms. The move will allow Google to build more tailored solutions on each to support the needs of two distinct types of customers. One will become Ads Data Hub for Measurement Partners. The other will become Ads Data Hub for Marketers. The features being developed for each will let Google provide the most value each market. It also will help marketers make the most of first-party data.

• In the Age of First-Party Data, Publishers Are Rethinking Their Approach to Optimal Ad Space

There are signs that publishers are cutting ad counts to protect reader data. In print, more advertisements generally mean more money. That legacy thinking has dominated digital publishing for a long time. But there are signs that publishers are cutting ad counts, rethinking their approach to optimal ad space in the age of first-party data.

• ‘Google is really nailing us’: Publishers Re-Shift Commerce Strategies After Platform Releases Flurry of Algorithm Updates

As always, Google can cause chaos for publishers depending on the digital behemoth’s whims. This autumn was a whirlwind for publishers as Google released not one but three algorithm changes over the course of a month that affected content rankings, specifically of product reviews. It’s another example of how the tech giant can cause disruption for publishers that have built businesses around trying to take advantage of its algorithm to reach people.

• How Dynamic Paywalls Help Publishers Connect Potential Subscribers With the Right Offer at the Right Time

Dynamic or intelligent paywalls have great potential and are being used by many publishers successfully. John Wilpers, author of FIPP’s annual Innovation in Media report called dynamic paywalls the “hottest new tool” that are helping publishers secure, “significant sustainable reader revenue.”  Dynamic paywalls use machine learning and artificial intelligence to adapt to users’ behavior and restrict access to content accordingly. They can automatically alter article limits and even deliver personalized subscription pitches based on readers’ consumption habits.