Facebook announced it would begin to prioritize local news outlets in the feeds of its users, emphasizing that local communities benefit and trust the outlets closest to them. How do involved executives see the move?

The sponsorship option opens a new avenue of social-media revenue at a time when publishers are scrambling to determine how the various platforms fit into their marketing strategy. Twitter sees the move as a way for a beneficial symbiosis to emerge from content people are already interested in consuming.

It's no secret that distrust of the media is higher than ever today. Across the political spectrum, readers (and viewers) report strong aversion from a range of news brands, and the press itself is under constant attack from the president.

Last November, Outside magazine took to Facebook to ask its readers about experiences with sexual harassment in the outdoors world. The move helped the pub grow on social media.

Being a part of Verizon is a major asset for Oath, with the largest scale of mobile carrier data in the industry available. As a publisher, Oath hopes to help its publishing partners capitalize on ad opportunities.

Competing walled gardens are embracing programmatic and people-based marketing to be competitive for digital ad dollars. They need to plug into the broader ad-tech ecosystem to allow marketers to bring their spend in the easiest way possible.

Facebook has been wary to present itself as anything but a community platform, refusing to crackdown on the spread of fake news - or back peddling when it has taken a step to do so. But the more the company struggles to redefine how the information spread on its platform translates into public opinion, the more urgent the issues become.

Platform expansions include a partnership that connects Conde Nast's customer data to the Nielsen Catalina API, and the acquisition of CitizenNet, a social-media-first marketing partner that allows the media company to connect advertisers with potential customers across platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The Contributor platform, which hosted more than 100,000 bloggers during its lifespan, predated social-media platforms, like Twitter and Tumblr, and offered an outlet for unknown writers to make their voices heard.

The reason for the site's demise is a common one: It could no longer remain profitable in a difficult advertising environment.