Piracy Archives - Sovrn, Inc.

What’s an Interest-Based Publisher and Why Should Advertisers Care?

webhank — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:36:44 +0000

It’s no secret we do things differently here at Sovrn. As an ad exchange that doesn’t play the game like everyone else, we’ve found our niche in enabling the best interest-based publishers on the web. We work with these publishers to prevent brand safety issues, filter out fraud, and increase viewability. Then we package up their inventory and make it available to advertisers.

But what is an interest-based publisher? Isn’t every publisher interest-based in one form or another?

Good point. Content is consumed first and foremost because of interest. When we talk about interest-based publishers at Sovrn, we’re thinking of mid- and long-tail publishers who sit outside the mainstream but provide significant value to their readers. One of our favorite such publishers on the Sovrn exchange is Instructables.com.

Instructables is for people who love to have fun making stuff. It contains thousands of step-by-step, community-powered how-to guides for consumers to create, share, and revel in the awesomeness of making just about anything. The site was created by Eric Wilhelm and Saul Griffith in August 2005, and is currently owned by Autodesk. Instructables started working with Sovrn in 2016.

According to Lauren Gerber, Yield Manager, Autodesk, the most popular articles on Instructables focus on technology followed by workshops and food. Their audience skews male at 58% and is most popular with the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups. When asked if she had any tips for advertisers who want to make the most out of campaigns hitting Instructables, Ms. Gerber said, “Be authentic and fun.” We think that’s great advice since authentic and fun is a perfect description for the content you’ll find throughout Instructables.com.

Great story, but why should advertisers care about interest-based publishers instead of mainstream sites?

Mid- and long-tail sites give your campaigns several advantages. You’re gaining additional reach. Your ads are less likely to appear near your competitors. You may even find performance advantages to advertising on smaller sites. Think about your own behavior. Are you more likely to pay attention and engage with ads on sites where you feel an attachment to the content or that mega news site where you check in to find out the latest big story and quickly move on to something else?

Sounds good. But aren’t there more brand safety and fraud risks in the mid- and long-tail?

That’s where Sovrn comes in. We know advertisers need to be feel safe when wading deeper into the ocean of the web. That’s why we’ve set up rigorous standards for any publisher who wants to be part of our exchange. Every site goes through a meticulous 25-point inspection by two humans, and we reject far more than we accept. It’s worth it though. We’re one of only five companies to achieve TAG Platinum status for certification against fraud, malware, piracy, and inventory quality.

The bottom line is there’s a lot of upside for advertisers when it comes to interest-based publishers. If you want to hear more about advertising opportunities on Instructables.com or any of the 2,000+ direct, interest-based publishers we work with, hit us up at advertising@sovrn.com.

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Myth-Busting: Sovrn Only Focuses on Publishers

sovrnmarketing — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 17:39:04 +0000

True or False: Sovrn is different from other advertising exchanges. They only focus on independent publishers. Advertisers are less important.

Well, that’s partially true. Sovrn is different, and we pride ourselves on this. While other sell-side platforms focus on getting pieces of the advertising businesses of large media companies, Sovrn is much more focused on enabling the businesses of smaller, interest-based publishers.
But this doesn’t mean we neglect our advertising partners and exchange. In fact, it’s precisely the opposite. Because our business model is hyper-focused on enabling small, independent businesses, it’s more important than ever that we run the cleanest and safest exchange possible for advertisers.

Major media companies have the option of working with multiple sell-side partners. If one fails them, they can move on to another with barely a blip in their bottom line. Smaller, interest-based publishers often don’t have that luxury. For many of these independent media businesses, Sovrn is their lifeline. If we fail them, we put businesses and livelihoods at risk.

When you combine this with our need to make sure advertisers are safe wading deeper into the ocean of the web, it’s no wonder that we’ve long been industry leaders in protecting advertisers return on ad spend. We’re one of only five companies to achieve TAG Platinum status for certification against fraud, malware, piracy, and inventory quality.

If we don’t protect the quality of our exchange, advertisers walk away, and the publisher businesses we enable will no longer thrive. The fact that we focus on smaller, interest-based publishers does indeed make us different, and it’s precisely why we strive to be the cleanest, safest, and highest performing exchange out there.

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Sovrn Achieves TAG Platinum Status for Certification against Fraud, Piracy, Malware, and Inventory Quality

Sovrn Publisher Advocate — Fri, 04 Jan 2019 16:35:01 +0000

We believe that the best brands and publishers deserve the best programmatic partners. We’re dedicated to providing one of the cleanest ad exchanges in the world—not just because it gives our demand partners the confidence they count on to reach their goals, but because it’s good for the entire industry.

That’s why we’re proud to be one of only five companies awarded Platinum Status by the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG). Sovrn was one of the first companies to receive all four TAG Certifications on fraud, piracy, malware, and inventory quality, and we continue to push for a better programmatic marketplace by calling for all exchanges to embrace transparency, efficiency, and fair-market principles.

“Not only is platinum the heaviest of the precious metals, it is also impervious to corrosion, so we felt that TAG Platinum was an appropriate designation for those companies that have taken all of the steps necessary to ensure that their digital advertising operations are impervious to the corroding effects of fraud, malware, piracy, and lack of transparency,” said Mike Zaneis, CEO of TAG.

Whether we’re leading the fight against ad fraud or applying our proprietary 25-step audit to every new domain we work with, we make sure that every Sovrn publisher adds measurable value to our demand partners. We deliver engaged audiences, authentic content, and viewable ads—with fewer brand safety risks.

This achievement only reinforces what we’ve always believed: for the programmatic industry to continue to grow and thrive, we must embrace honesty and transparency. We’re honored both by the award and by the opportunity to continue pushing programmatic advertising towards greater potential—and greater success.

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