Gum Gum Study On Digital Publishing
Gum Gum Study On Digital Publishing
Gum Gum Study On Digital Publishing
WHAT DO PUBLISHERS
REALLY THINK OF THE
EMERGING FORMS OF
ADVERTISING?
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TA B LE O F CO NTE NTS
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GUMGUM.COM
About GumGum
What You Need To Know In 2 Minutes Or Less
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Last words
About
GUMGUM
As the inventor of in-image advertising, GumGum is the leading
digital marketing platform for the visual web. Our technology
unlocks the value of connected images, and delivers highly visible
and engaging campaigns for marketers.
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IN 2 MINUTES OR LESS
The publishing industry is in a state of flux. Never before has online
advertising been so essential to the financial health of publishers,
and their ability to provide often free services to their readers. Yet
ineffective ads annoy consumers, fail to meet advertiser goals and
degrade the publishers brand experience.
Over the past few years, the industry has seen new forms of advertising
enter the market, including mobile, video, native and in-image ads, as
well as open exchanges and private programmatic marketplaces. But
are these innovations breaking new ground for publishers? Will they
solve the challenges outlined above? What do publishers really think
about these opportunities? And, most interestingly, can we expect, in
the relatively near future, a world in which all standard banner ads are
replaced with more effective ones?
To find out, we asked representatives of four media companies
ESI Media (publishers of The Independent, Evening Standard, among
others), Internet Brands, Terra, and Bauer Xcel Media what they really
thought of the value these more innovative forms of advertising brings
to the table.
Without exception, all of the publishers we spoke to take each of
these opportunities seriously. Theyve dedicated people and budget to
experimenting with them, and theyre approaching each new ad format
and selling model with an open mind. Theyre not so quick to pass
judgment. User experience is a key criteria to making a decision on
how theyll proceed.
For instance:
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SI Media is a multi-media company reaching 14.7 million people every month through its newspapers and digital
properties, which include the London Evening Standard, The Independent, i, and London Live. ESI Medias goal is to
deliver premium content to consumers whenever they want it, and in whichever format they require. Digital advertising is
an integral part of reader experience, and Graeme Finneberg, Digital Commercial Director, who is located in London, works
hard to ensure its quality is up to ESI Medias exacting standard.
OUR REMAINING
INVENTORY
PROGRAMMATICALLY,
WHICH IN THEORY,
MEANS WE HAVE 100%
ADVERTISING SELLTHROUGH RATE.
We have a lot of mobile traffic, the majority of which goes to our mobile
site. Our goal is to monetize it in exactly the same way as we do as with
our desktop sites, but its more of a challenge because screens are smaller.
The industry doesnt have a great solution for that challenge yet so we
will continue to test new ideas and formats.
Our UK direct sales teams sell high impact and brand campaigns and
we partner with marketers and agencies to integrate their content into
our web properties to deliver long-term partnerships.
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THE CHALLENGE OF
PMPS IS THEY TAKE
QUITE A LOT OF EFFORT
TO SET UP, THERES
A LOT OF MANUAL
LABOR AS ITS NOT AN
AUTOMATED SOLUTION.
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Going Native:
8 OUT OF 10
work with a native
ad vendor
8 OUT OF 10 10 OUT OF 10
are paid via a
CPM model
BEWARE OF RISKS
Although the publishers were on the whole enthusiastic
about native advertising, they did warn of some risks.
For instance, fill rates are still rather low, a reality that
must be taken into account when projecting revenue.
Moreover, some of the native ad vendors rely on
content that generates a lot of clicks across the web.
All too often, highly viral content is scandalous,
which might not sit well with every brand.
Visual Web:
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s a Professor of Information, Operations and Management Sciences and a Professor of Marketing at New York
Universitys Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Anindya Ghose conducts numerous research and consulting
projects that explore the impact of the Internet on markets transformed by its shared technology infrastructure, the
economic value of social media, and the impact of digital and mobile marketing.
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Sure, native ads are trendy these days because they are able to seamlessly
blend engaging content into the readers context. The typical display
ads have now become very standardized, and so it makes it easier for
users to ignore ads even if they are well targeted. On the other hand,
native ads have the huge advantage of appearing organically generated
to the vast majority of readers. Typically, with native advertising, the
engagement with content is the key goal for the ad campaign. Since
users are actively reading the content, they are more likely to read the
ad. And this leads to higher engagement and higher CTRs, which leads
to increasing avenues for monetization. The reality is that because the
design of native ad will be customized from publisher to publisher, it is
hard for users not to engage with those ads.
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Millennials Less Wary of Native Advertising Than Older Readers, Study Finds
bit.ly/1OuQjBG
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PUBLISHERS MONETIZATION
TRENDS WITH INTERNET BRANDS
ERIC WELLNER
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ince launching in 1998 as CarsDirect.com, Internet Brands has grown to become a fully integrated online media and
client services organization focused on four high value vertical categories: Automotive, Health, Legal and Home / Travel.
Eric Wellner serves as the Director of Business Development for Automotive, and recently shared with GumGum his vision for
monetizing his sites today, and into the future.
Our range and scale. With one contract, advertisers can access a diverse
audience, from in-market automotive, frequent travelers, and do-ityourself types, to new and expectant mothers. We offer verticals that
focus on sites serving major life events and purchases. As for scale, we
reach close to 100 million uniques per month, or nearly 1 in 10 Internet
users according to comScore.
Each vertical has a direct sales team that offers a diverse set of advertising
packages based on the style and theme of the site. Where applicable,
each team offers nativead packages, content advertising, advertorials, as
well as sponsored site accounts that allow advertisers to speak directly to
consumers. We offer a majority of our inventory programmatically, and
this year weve focused on driving private marketplace sales on our banner
inventory. We also work with affiliate partners, which sell products and
services that arent offered by our sales teams, such as image advertising.
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We have mobile web templates on all of our properties and the strategy is
very similar to our desktop strategy. Mobile is becoming the new norm,
and advertisers are keen to reach consumers via their mobile devices.
Over the past year weve seen more demand for private marketplaces.
Now that large brands are using DSPs, we can offer advanced targeting
thats more in line with how they bought from us directly. Programmatic
has helped us unlock previously hard to reach niche marketing.
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UNTAPPED REVENUE
SOURCE FOR US, AS
WELL AS PROVIDED
HIGH VISIBILITY FOR
THE ADVERTISERS.
Native has been really great for us, but I see some limits. The more you
blur the line between content and advertising, the less consumers will
trust or engage with media. Most ad technologies can grow in two ways:
placements on the page and granularity in targeting. There are some great
companies doing some really cool stuff with placements, but theres only
so far you can go before consumers feel like theyre reading the Penny
Saver. Most of the growth I think will come via better targeting. If the
user is open to your ad its going to be much more successful than trying
to carpet-bomb someone not interested.
No, weve seen growth in demand from native, but it is nowhere near
the percentages needed to sustain the business. Digital is also a very
fast paced world and super trendy. When considering site designs, you
need to build for at least the next five years. There is a ton of risk each
time you reformat everything around one advertising platform. You want
to sell bellbottoms at your store, but you dont want them to be your only
product when the winds inevitably shift.
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The key to this is to draw a clear line between content and advertising.
Despite popular belief, users dont hate all forms of ads and often find
them useful. Its important to present high impact units to the right
audiences and not all audiences. Publishers should monitor bounce rates
and pages per visit when new ad products are launched to ensure theyre
not disrupting experience or compromising the cost-benefit model.
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User Experience:
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delivering their content for free, many publishers have had to structure
their sites in a way that makes it more likely that users will see the ads on
them. Whether it be video ads that begin automatically or more standard
pre-roll ads, people are growing increasingly frustrated over what
they perceive to be obnoxious ads that are interrupting their web
experience. In-image ads, on the other hand, dont disrupt the content,
they complement it. By putting small, aesthetically pleasing and relevant
ad within an image, publishers can provide a seamless advertising
experience that will show customers that they are trying to add value to
the customers experience, not take away from it.
For customers, bringing ads into images will provide the ideal
browsing experience. From a user standpoint, a perfect world is one
without digital ads. In-image ads allow for publishers to get as close
to that experience as possible by weaving the ads into the content in a
way that allows for a truly native experience. At the same time, these
ads arent trying to trick users into thinking they are purely content,
a practice that has frustrated users for some time. Publishers wont
need to have ads encroaching on content to the point of choking the
flow of their site, and customers will be able to browse their favorite
sites without feeling like they are walking down a narrow street with
salesmen on either side pitching their wares.
The case for in-image advertising is a strong one. In todays age of
increased ad blocking, banner blindness and short attention spans,
advertisers, brands and publishers all need a way to catch customers
eyes and hold their focus with ads that enhance the entire online
experience without taking away from the content. What better way to
do that than to combine the what consumers love - images - and what
brands rely heavily on - advertising?
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Money Talks:
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auer Xcel Media focuses on applying user-driven strategies to deliver cutting edge news, and to build original, innovative
products centered on audience needs. With 130 million monthly unique users, Bauer Xcel Media operates well known
sites, such as intouchweekly.com, lifeandstylemag.com and J-14.com. As VP of Online Marketing, Vicky HSU is charged with
monetizing its properties.
Our mission is to transform the way stories are told and consumed
online while building new, innovative products around the needs
of our audiences. Weve recently reorganized the business so that all
digital platforms are under one umbrella, called Bauer Xcel Media.
This arm of the business will focus solely on digital development and
growth. Our goal is to take advantage of local opportunities and scale
them globally, leverage learnings, best practices and build original
and innovative data-driven products centered on audience needs.
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Right now Id say the scale is quite limited. Most of publishers sell
around 5 to 10% in PMPs. As a result, scaling up has been slow.
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Its been great. Weve been working with GumGum and found
the company to be very easy to work with. More important, all of
the revenue has been totally incremental, which means GumGum
in-image ads arent competing with any of our other partners.
Moreover, the ads GumGum has provided to date have been very
brand focused, which is a good experience for our users.
Native CPMs are much higher than display; the creative costs
have been built into the CPM.
Yes, but only if the eCPM is higher! I go back to what I said earlier,
its all about testing and iterating. If tests show that native and incontent ad formats consistently outperform standard display ads,
then wed focus on them, without a doubt.
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erra is a leading global digital media company, reaching 100 million people through its entertainment, sports and news content.
To accommodate an evolving readership, the media giant offers its content in English, Spanish or Portuguese, as well as via a large
array of connected screens and devices. Terra sees the emerging suite of innovative ad formats as an opportunity to better engage and
entertains its readers, and programmatic as the smartest way to match the right reader with the right advertiser.
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Weve fully embraced it, and it has been part of our revenue stream for a
while now. The market is moving towards programmatic and that wont
change, so we need to embrace it in order to stay relevant. Direct sales
are down because advertisers want a better and more cost effective way
to reach their audiences. Clients arent always interested in direct sales
with tags; they prefer working with a trading desk or a Demand Side
Platform. Increasingly, clients are asking for two proposals: programmatic
and direct sales.
No, we dont sell our audience data due to our strict privacy
guidelines.
This is new for us; we didnt use it until GumGum came along. Its an
ingenious way to get advertisements across, and the benefits are many.
Readers are curious to engage with the new format, so for us its very
attractive. If you like this image of a BMW, you might also be interested
in one for Cadillac. Image advertising has provided a steady revenue
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Terra has been successful with native advertising and its popular with
a few of our clients. As a publisher weve done similar advertorials
as the one New York Times did for Netflix. I can see the demand for
native advertising grow. Advertisers are always trying to get their
product across to an audience and natives ads are showing the ability to
do the job. Advertising to audiences based on their interests is a great
way of ensuring engagement and product awareness.
Thats a very interesting question. There are probably some publishers who
can create those types of formats to replace IAB standard ads. Its a smart
move because as a reader, youre more likely to engage with advertorials.
Viewability might be higher.
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LAST WORDS
Its fair to say that stuffing pages with numerous banner ads is failing the
digital advertising industry. Consumers find them annoying, advertisers
are disappointed in the results they deliver, and publishers are alarmed at
their affect on their overall brand experience.
The industry is ready for a new approach to advertising; publishers in
particular are keen to find ways to seamlessly incorporate digital ads
into their brand experiences as well as offer true value to their readers
and clients.
Visuals will be key to advertising in the future since they allow brands to
communicate a lot of information without overloading consumers with
too much text. For this reason, marketers should keep Professor Ghoses
advice top of mind: The same fundamental learnings should be applied
to brands and marketers as they migrate to a visual web strategy.
Publishers arent sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what works and
what doesnt. Theyre actively experimenting with a wide variety of ad
formats, page layouts, and site designs. Theyre also participating in
programmatic trading models with the goal of ensuring the ads their
readers see are both relevant to them as individuals, and to the content
theyre consuming at that moment.
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