• by Tobi Elkin , Staff Writer @tobielkin, April 19, 2017

Polar, a branded content platform for publishers, earlier this year took a look at the branded content market, claiming the projected $20 billion market is growing faster than any other sector in the digital advertising ecosystem.

The research led to The Branded Content 100, a ranking of the biggest publishers based on annual digital revenue publishers generate from branded content.

Among the findings:

--Branded Content 100 publishers globally will collectively generate $3 billion in branded content digital revenue in 2017.

--65 publishers on the Branded Content 100 are from North America, with the remaining 35 from Europe, Asia-Pacific and elsewhere.

--Seven publishers will each generate more than $100 million in digital revenue from branded content this year.

Polar bucket Branded Content 100publishers into four revenue ranges: under $25 million, between $25 to $50 million, between $50 to $100 million, and over $100 million. Among the revenue findings:

--Seven publishers that will each generate more than $100 million this year collectively, comprising 25% of the $3 billion market.

--46 of the Branded Content 100 publishers will each generate more than $25 million this year and collectively make up 80% of the $3 billion market.

--On average,each Branded Content 100 publisher will generate $30 million in digital revenue from branded content this year.

Polar also grouped Branded Content 100publishers into four geographic regions: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and rest-of-world (ROW). Among the insights:

--65 publishers primarily based in North America will generate a combined $2.43 billion, or 81% of the $3 billion market, this year from branded content.

--Branded Content 100 publishers based primarily in North America will generate on average $40 millioneach in 2017, more than two times higher than those publishers based primarily in Europe, APAC, or ROW regions.

Polar also ranked Branded Content 100 publishers based on four verticals: Broadcast (television and radio), Digital (digital-only), Magazine (print magazine publications), and News (traditional newspapers). Polar found:

--Of the 17 Branded Content 100 publishers that will each generate more than $50 million this year, eight of them (or 47%) are digital-only and collectively make up $1.3 billion, or 42%, of the market.

--Magazine and news publishers make up 44 of the Branded Content 100 and 42% of the revenue.

--Broadcast publishers will, on average, generate $26 million each from branded content in digital this year, which is 26% lowerthan digital publishers.