Commentary

audience targeting threatens premium publishers

"The effect of audience targeting has to be devalue the importance of context," according to Joshua Wepman, VP of GCA Savvian. Wepman acknowledged that premium content will always be important and command some sort of premium price, but "Why would someone pay for the front page of the New York Times... when you capture the same person" elsewhere for less money.
1 comment about "audience targeting threatens premium publishers".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Steven Duque from Jack Morton Worldwide, July 20, 2010 at 8:46 a.m.

    As someone who loves publishing and journalism, I hate to say that, in terms of advertising, context matters little. What matters most in advertising, I think most would agree, is that the most relevant audience is receiving the most relevant message possible. While publishers may play a less direct role in that model, their content still matters because the more their content is trafficked, the more ads will be delivered aside their content. While their space won't be sold at premium rates, they will sell at a higher volume, making them more money than the smaller publisher. In the end, they'll still make more money, though it'll place more pressure on them to create good content that actually drives traffic.

Next story loading loading..
About the Author

Erik Sass is editor of Publishers Daily. You can reach Erik at eriksass@gmail.com.

Discover Our Publications