Issue 20: What Do You Love About Advertising?  July 6th 2016

Facebook and the media's interests diverge

This is not, as it happens, the first shoot-yourself-in-the-head mistake made by publishers in navigating the digital market. That original sin, so incomprehensible now as to be almost never discussed, was to give all of publishing’s products away for free. That happened because … well, really, for no other reason than that technology companies said this was the future and that everyone was doing it.

This is playing out exactly as most thought it would. Don't believe me? Check out the next article (below). It was written back in April.

Plan On Moving Your Entire Publication To A Platform Like Medium?

Today, calling a platform home is a dangerous proposition, especially if your core business is focused on publishing online and earning profits through advertising.

News media move to ban ad blockers from websites

Despite this opposition, the newspaper is pressing ahead with plans to block the blockers. Dozens of other global media companies are preparing to do the same to protect their online revenues from the rapid and unrelenting rise of ad blocking.

Counterpoint: The Time For Blaming Ad Block Users Is Over

If we really want to stop the ad blocker growth from continuing its exponential climb, we need to face the cold hard truth: ad blocker applications and their users aren't the problem; the ad tech companies, boards, and initiatives behind serving these ads are the problem.

As Content Crosses Platforms, Hearst Doubles Down On Tech

Hearst is coming up with proprietary tech products like Buzzing, which helps editors identify trending stories and extend their reach by cross-posting to third-party sites or social media platforms. Advertisers can purchase Buzzing as a programmatic package.

5 Key Findings, 20 Essential Stats: Inside 2016’s Digital News Report

Although digital-born companies like BuzzFeed and The Huffington Post are beginning to enjoy significant reach (the study established that The Huffington Post is the second-most-consumed online news source in the U.S. and the third most popular in the U.K.) these online-only services tend to typically be used as secondary sources or for softer news.

Google's Plans May Not Eliminate Header Bidding

DFP has the ability to run both header bidding and EBDA. Google could make DFP noncompatible with header bidding but it hasn’t yet and it’s doubtful that it will. Header bidding is too important to publishers and if Google did do such a thing, the alternative ad servers would be at the doorstep waiting for the flood of new business from top publishers.

Does advertising even work any more?

Is it all just a big waste of space, time and money? I’m talking about all types of advertising here: internet, native, TV, video, mobile, print, branded content, matchbooks, stunts, product placement, sandwich boards. All of it.

Shoppable Snapchat Ads Are Here

It's happening: as predicted, Snapchat is starting to integrate on-platform shopping. AdWeek reports that shoppable ads appeared on the app for the first time today, landing on Cosmopolitan's Discover channel.