With lower inflation and recovering ad rates, late 2023 brought some relief from the difficult economic conditions that have plagued the online media industry for years. Yet the challenges continue to mount, both internally and externally. Budget cuts and widespread layoffs persist, decimating editorial teams, while paradigm-shifting developments like cookie deprecation and artificial intelligence are truly starting to take shape.

Amid challenging conditions like these, it can be difficult to optimize your monetization strategy and drive consistent business results. But the right data and insights can help you make smart, proactive decisions and position your business for future success — regardless of what lies ahead.

Our H2 2023 Data Insights Report, explores the trends that are influencing publisher performance and provides actionable insights to boost your potential in the coming months. 

Here’s a preview:

• Run a lean, efficient business. Today’s most successful digital media CEOs are laser-focused on operational efficiency. Find out how our recommendations can help you do the same.

• Focus on audience development. It has become increasingly difficult to attract and retain an engaged audience, due to changing search algorithms, increased competition, eroding consumer trust, and more. Our advice can help you build loyal, profitable audience relationships.

• Future proof against a changing ecosystem. The online media industry has suffered through some of its worst years in recent memory, and it’s clear that significant challenges still lie ahead. Yet there is reason for optimism, if you’re willing to embrace a new reality and take steps to evolve. 

• Put AI to work for you. New developments in artificial intelligence pose a serious threat to online publishers, but AI also presents some unique opportunities. Get our recommendations to make the most of this game-changing technology.

Publishers need all the help they can get to succeed in today’s difficult market environment. With the right data and insights — and a strong partner like Sovrn — you’ll be better prepared to navigate the uncertainty ahead and make smart, strategic decisions at every turn. 

Download the report to get started.

The post Winning in 2024 Will Be Tough. Here are 4 Tips to Get Out in Front. appeared first on Sovrn, Inc..

Looking back on the second half of 2023, it’s clear that advertising and commerce performance was strongly influenced by conflicting macroeconomic factors. Ad rates began a much-needed comeback, inflation rates dropped, and consumer spending hit record levels during the holiday season — yet turmoil in the publishing industry continues, as evidenced by ongoing  layoffs.

In our new H2 2023 Industry Report, we examine these trends to understand their impact on programmatic and commerce results. We also share top tips to help optimize your strategy for 2024.

Key Takeaways

• Advertising: After suffering through declining ad revenue in 2022 and early 2023, ad rates recovered in H2 2023 — and that growth is expected to accelerate throughout 2024. Cyclical events like the Olympics and the US presidential election will drive ad growth in 2024, so take steps to capture this “bonus” revenue through effective ad pricing.

• Commerce: Lower inflation in the second half of 2023 led to strong online sales, especially during the record-breaking holiday shopping season. Our data shows positive overall trends in several year-over-year performance metrics, including conversion rates and EPCs (earnings per click). That said, results varied significantly by category. 

To succeed in a rapidly changing environment, you need to be both smart and proactive with your decision making. That means staying on top of evolving market conditions, having a reliable source of data and insights, and working with strong partners to help ensure your strategy is sound. 

In this report, you’ll find data-backed insights and performance metrics to help you prepare for what is shaping up to be another challenging year.

Ready to learn more?

The post H2 2023 Industry Report: Insights for the Year Ahead appeared first on Sovrn, Inc..

The first half of 2023 brought a continuation of last year’s challenging conditions, with a few added twists like widespread budget cuts and record-setting layoffs in the publishing sector. These evolving macroeconomic trends had a profound impact on both advertising performance and affiliate earnings.

In our new H1 2023 Data Insights Report, we explore these trends in detail to understand how they influenced commerce and programmatic results. We also dig into advertising and commerce performance analytics for the period, gleaned from the Sovrn Data Collective, to help publishers prepare for an uncertain future. 

A few key takeaways:

• Advertising: Programmatic rates continued to suffer in the first half of 2023, with top publishers reporting year-over-year ad revenue declines of up to 30%. That said, CPMs are trending upwards as the year goes on — especially in the US. For smart publishers, focusing on the right categories can help to generate reliable ad revenue. Our data shows that-top performing categories delivered 2 to 3x higher CPMs than mid-tier categories.
  
• Commerce: Slower inflationary growth in the first half of 2023 led to a year-over-year increase in ecommerce sales. Our data shows relatively stable year-over-year trends in overall conversion rates and EPCs (earnings per click). However, these averages don’t tell the whole story. In an environment where consumers are still hungry for deals, some merchant categories delivered significantly higher EPCs, conversion rates, and revenue — while others fell flat. 

To succeed amid uncertainty, it’s important to optimize your strategy. That means keeping tabs on changing market conditions, making data-driven decisions, and being prepared to pivot at a moment’s notice. 

This report breaks down recent performance data and delivers expert insights to help you better prepare for the coming months.

Ready to learn more?

The post H1 2023 Industry Report: Optimize for Future Uncertainty with Data Insights appeared first on Sovrn, Inc..

Understand H2 2022 commerce and advertising performance and gain insights for driving success in 2023.

As we look back on the second half of 2022, it’s clear that macroeconomic factors — including widespread economic slowdowns and soaring inflation — played a major role in advertising and commerce trends. Brands pulled out all the stops to entice consumers to part with their limited holiday budget, offering discounts of 30% and more — along with unusually high affiliate commissions. Meanwhile, ad rates worldwide continued to soften, far beyond the typical late-year drop off. 

So what can publishers expect now that the holiday shopping season is past? Can hot categories like travel and consumer electronics continue to attract consumer spend? Have global ad rates reached rock bottom, or will they continue to plummet? Will the “attention economy” remain a focal point, elevating the value of an engaged audience?

For publishers, it’s important to keep an eye on the market, monitor performance, and be prepared to make adjustments as needed. To make those tasks a little easier, this report delivers expert analysis and data-driven insights to break down recent performance trends and help publishers optimize their strategy for the year ahead.

Ready to learn more?

The post H2 2022 Industry Report: Data Insights to Help You Win in 2023 appeared first on Sovrn, Inc..

Looking back at the advertising demand trends this past quarter, it is clear to see the impact that global economic uncertainty has had on the demand for digital advertising. Year-over-year programmatic ad rates are down globally across the board, and earnings-per-click (EPC) from affiliate marketing channels were also down this quarter compared to prior years.

For programmatic ad spend, different geographic regions were more heavily impacted than others. In particular, CPMs in the US were down by 15-20% while the decrease in UK CPMs was more pronounced, at just one-third of year-over-year revenues.

Of note was the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September, resulting in many brands pausing advertising in the UK during the period of mourning. This caused CPMs in the UK to drop to lows not seen since the initial weeks of the Covid 19 outbreak in March 2020.

While year-over-year ad rates softened, we generally saw the standard inter-quarter trend of advertisers distributing more of their ad spend towards the latter end of the quarter as budgets were approved, leading to higher demand and price spikes due
to increased competition for coveted ad slots.

Like what you’re reading?

The post Q3 2022 Industry Brief: Digital Advertising Insights appeared first on Sovrn, Inc..

But evaluating your own program only tells one side of the story. In order to get a complete picture of ad performance, you need to know how your program stacks up against other publishers — both within your vertical and across the wider publishing industry.

Our latest report, Advertising Performance Benchmark Report, offers insights across current, accurate, and reliable benchmark data so you can compare your site(s) to industry averages, understand CPM impact, and adjust their advertising strategy. Using Sovrn Signal, we analyzed more than six months’ worth of CPM data from thousands of independent publishers in the Sovrn Data Collective, covering 136,000 ad units and nearly 2 billion impressions per day.

Top 5 Findings to Help Benchmark Your Ad Performance

Here’s a quick preview of some key takeaways from this report:

1. Ad spend was down in certain categories due to global uncertainty

News and business sites saw decreased ad spend in the first half of 2022, as advertisers were wary of appearing alongside negative stories like the war in Ukraine, economic declines, and the ongoing pandemic. Automotive publishers also saw a downward trend in CPMs as supply chain issues continued to plague the industry.

2. Audience attention yields higher CPM

Unless an ad can be seen, it can’t make an impact. Our research found that inventory with 80% viewability or more (meaning there’s at least an 80% likelihood of being seen) drove 3x higher CPMs versus market averages. And after 12 seconds of engagement, CPMs jump by 85%.

3. Site traffic has minimal effect on ad performance

It appears that traffic volume doesn’t matter as much to ad buyers as conventional wisdom might suggest. Our research found that CPMs increase only 9% as sites cross the 10 million monthly page view threshold, as compared to those with less than 10 million page views per month.

4. Scroll depth has a meaningful impact on ad rates

Scroll depth is a metric for evaluating how much of a given page is consumed by the reader. On average, users who view at least 80% of the available content (i.e., scroll depth of 80% or more) are worth twice the CPM of those with a lower scroll depth.

5. Third-party cookies are still the gold standard  for ad targeting

The end of third-party cookies is almost inevitable, but they are still the dominant method for granular ad targeting. Our research discovered that CPMs on Chrome (which still uses third-party cookies) are 71% higher than on Safari, where cookies have already been eliminated. And while Universal IDs (UIDs) are being explored as a possible cookie replacement, they currently capture only 10-25% of the value that third-party cookies deliver.

Looking for more?

These are just a few of the many insights, findings, and data points available in our new Advertising Performance Benchmark Report. Download your copy to find out how your site compares to industry averages, understand current performance trends, and identify the factors that can help to improve your overall ad strategy.

If you’re ready to uncover more granular data to evaluate your site performance and drive more revenue, our Signal data tool can help you measure, compare, and monetize your user engagement. Schedule a demo today to learn more!

The post H1 2022 Industry Report: Data & Insights to Analyze Ad Performance and Improve Your Strategy appeared first on Sovrn, Inc..