Spring 2016

A quarterly magazine on the future of media from Digiday

FRENEMY

Platform Facebook’s Vox’s Power Live Platform Politics Moment Wrangler P. 16 P. 22 P. 48 OPENING SHOT

THIS Welcome to Pulse.

he modern publisher is expertise. There's a pair of profiles of facing fast-changing and this new breed of platform experts, challenging times. The rise one about Vox Media's Choire Sicha AD of platform giants like Face- and another on a day in the life of book offer unprecedented Complex Media's chief content offi- ability to reach new audienc- cer. While Justin Smith, global CEO of PULSE POINT Tes, but content distribution and mon- Bloomberg Media, told the audience wwt etization is often outside publishers’ at DPS that publishers shouldn’t rush control. It’s enough to make you want in when it comes to platforms, Mic’s to crank up the printing presses. Cory Haik argues that publishers While Digiday is at its core a digital who build there quickly will be the media company, we thought the winners. We also wade into ad-tech's printed format was ideal for exploring midlife crisis, and why Facebook live IS FOR these critical issues in a thoughtful video is such a big deal. way. Pulse is our way of periodically At Digiday, we are optimistic checking the vital signs of the media realists. The shift to platforms is industry. neither good nor bad. In fact, the jury At the recent Digiday Publishing is still out about whether platforms Summit in Vail, Digiday brought to- will benefit the media industry in the gether leading publishers to discuss long run. We believe in the power of how to balance the needs for distribu- strong, differentiated brands that tion and monetization. The result is create lasting connections with audi- YOU this special magazine that’s inspired ences. Those connections can happen by that event and offers a deeper look on all manner of platforms. Even a into the issues surrounding this shift print magazine. Enjoy Pulse, and to platforms. We’ll do these maga- please let us know what you think. YOU, THE HEAD OF SALES, THE BIZ DEV KIDS, THE zines quarterly throughout the year. Email [email protected]. Look for the next issue in early June EDITORS, THE CONTENT KINGS AND THE DEV TEAM. focused on the rise of programmatic advertising. In this inaugural issue, we look at Programmatic selling affects us all. Why? The to another buyer and then another, until the ads what the rise of Facebook means for Blue Bottle coffee in the kitchen and Bagel that pay for your great work are sold for pennies. legacy publishers, while also explor- LUCIA MOSES Fridays—ads pay for that. ing how small and independent pub- SENIOR EDITOR, DIGIDAY But if you use header bidding to offer those ads lishers are especially challenged in a platform-dominated world. Platforms And right now, your ad spaces are probably being to even more buyers, and those buyers compete, aren't just about tech: They require offered to just one set of buyers. If they don’t then your company makes more money. Voila! bite, the waterfall slashes prices and offers them Cream cheese and lox on Fridays. TAKE BACK THE HIGH GROUND. 1 #CONTENT

DIGIDAY MEDIA The Publishing Issue

FOUNDER AND CEO NICK FRIESE 4 HOT TAKES 8 16 The platforms quiz // What ads PRESIDENT AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF really cost // How Tastemade gives good Snapchat // Publishers talking about BRIAN MORRISSEY platforms 8 BEWARE OF OUTSOURCING A conversation with Justin Smith EXECUTIVE EDITOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, ART DIRECTOR 10 PUBLISHERS GET ON MESSAGE BRIAN BRAIKER CONTENT STUDIO MATT FRAHER The rise of messaging platforms DEANNA ZAMMIT MANAGING EDITOR SENIOR DESIGNER 16 HAVES AND HAVE NOTS SHAREEN PATHAK CHIEF MARKETING AND SCOTT ROSSER Small publishers get screwed COMMUNICAITONS OFFICER SENIOR EDITOR PAUL KONTONIS ILLUSTRATOR 22 FACEBOOK LIVE IS READY LUCIA MOSES LISK FENG FOR ITS CLOSE-UP GENERAL MANAGER, EVENTS Watch out, YouTube UK EDITOR MEGAN KNAPP MULTIMEDIA PRODUCER JESSICA DAVIES CAITLAN ARTHUR 25 WTF IS A VIEW? CONTROLLER 26 32 It really depends SENIOR REPORTER, GLOSSY JOHN SOL MARKETING MANAGER HILARY MILNES MIKE MADARASZ 26 REPORT FROM DIGIDAY VP HR AND OPERATIONS PUBLISHING SUMMIT SENIOR REPORTER, PLATFORMS ANDREA SONTZ FINANCIAL ASSOCIATE Publisher confessions // GARETT SLOANE ASHTON MCGOWN What we learned PUBLISHING BRANDS REPORTERS DIRECTOR AUDIENCE DEVELOPEMNT FINANCE ANALYST 32 ERA OF EMPIRE YUYU CHEN, AARON GOTTLIEB ABUL HASAN SUMMIT Facebook’s looming shadow VAIL TANYA DUA 34 DIGIDAY AFTER DARK SENIOR CREATIVE STRATEGIST, OFFICE OPERATIONS ASSISTANT Scenes from the Digiday STAFF REPORTER, VIDEO CONTENT STUDIO IRENE ENTRINGER SAHIL PATEL DAVID AMRANI Publishing Awards 38 AD TECH’S MIDLIFE CRISIS BREAKING NEWS REPORTER CONTENT STRATEGIST, ADVERTISING SALES Programmatic or problematic? JORDAN VALINSKY CONTENT STUDIO DEBBIE DUNBAR, CIELO LUTINO TRECIA HUMPHREY 40 EUROPEAN BLOCK PARTY JUNIOR REPORTER, GLOSSY ANTHONY CAPALBO, Ad blocking’s threat BETHANY BIRON DIGITAL MEDIA WRITER, BEN DARCHE, CONTENT STUDIO KAREEM AMEEN, 44 52 44 DAY IN THE LIFE UK SENIOR WRITER/REPORTER EVAN DESIMONE JONATHAN MESSINA, Complex’s Noah Callahan-Bever LUCINDA SOUTHERN MARTIN BELK, COORDINATOR, 47 MY BIG BREAK STAFF REPORTER, PUBLISHING CONTENT STUDIO CLIENT SERVICES MANAGER The New Yorker’s Nicholas RICARDO BILTON JOE GEOGHAN TYLER KAMEN, Thompson KEVIN LEE 48 THE PLATFORM WRANGLER CONTENT MARKETING MANAGER CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER CAROLINE BOTTGER EVENTS Vox’s Choire Sicha PETER SURRENA MONIKA HONIG, 52 THE INSTAGRAM EFFECT ART DIRECTOR, PULSE HAYLEY ADELSON Fashion publishers on Instagram CHIEF CLIENT OFFICER JESSE SOUTHERLAND KELSEY LUNDSTROM PAUL BORSELLI TARA HUTTON 55 THE DISTRIBUTED DOMAIN TAYLOR JOHNSON Mic’s Cory Haik on what’s next 56 THE TIDE’S GOING OUT What platforms give, they also take away For all inquiries, please email [email protected]

2 3 HOT TAKES

THINK YOU KNOW WHAT THINGS COST YOUR PLATFORMS? SNAPCHAT VIDEO // $20 to $30 CPMs J These 10-second vertical video clips can appear alongside publisher content and other special Snapchat coverage inside the app. Google. Facebook. Amazon. These platform giants are as big as they are influential. But that doesn’t mean you're TASTEMADE'S TWITTER MOMENTS AND BRANDED EMOJIS // $1 million familiar with every aspect of their businesses. Take this J Branded emojis and Moments also include a full marketing quiz to test your knowledge of the big platforms. blitz across the platform with Promoted Tweets.

INSTAGRAM APP-INSTALL ADS // $2.70 CPI J Instagram's direct-response offering ranges from $1.70 for game de- SNAPCHAT 1. Amazon’s ad platform, 6. In 2015 Microsoft handed velopers to $2.70 for consumer goods marketers. which targets web users over the sales reins for its both on and off Amazon. display, mobile and video com, is called what? ads to which company? MOBILE VIDEO ADS // $5 to $8 CPMs J Publishers across a. Amazon Exchange a. Yahoo mobile are adding video ad serving to their sites, and they b. Amazon Partner Network b. Google can take ad orders from many buyers, including Google RECIPE c. Amazon Advertising c.OL A and Facebook ad networks. Platform d. Facebook d. Amazon doesn’t have an YOUTUBE MASTHEAD TAKEOVER // $400,000 J This video ad network 7. Which of these isn’t a ad unit takes a prominent place atop YouTube for the day. Twitter ad product? It’s more expensive on high-profile marketing days. 2. 'To give everyone the a. Promoted Tweets power to create and share b. Promoted Lists PINTEREST PROMOTED PINS // $25 to $30 CPMs J Pinter- ideas and information c. Promoted Accounts instantly, without barri- d. Promoted Trends est has come down from $40 CPMs. It will throw in custom STEP 1: ers,' is which company’s analytics if you spend over $1 million. The food publisher startup produces three to five days’ mission statement? 8. True or False: Mobile worth of content at one time using a staff of six. All a. Facebook Google searches have FACEBOOK ANTHOLOGY // $1 million J These video ads content — be it a talent-based shoot, hands-only tutorial b. Twitter overtaken those on are created with the help of publishers like BuzzFeed and or an original show — is shot vertically for Snapchat. To c. Google desktop Vox Media, which use their audiences on Facebook as assemble a Story, an editor at Tastemade first goes through d. LinkedIn a. True enticement for marketers. Prices have been halved from the editorial calendar to sees what’s scheduled to run on b. False $2 million at launch. Discover, before proofreading the text. Then it’s submitted 3. What’s the name of to Snapchat's team. Facebook’s video ad 9. Which of these products exchange? has Snapchat not sold to a. LiveRail users? CALLED IT STEP 2: b. BrightRoll a. Playing cards The Snapchat producer checks the calendar to see what’s c.TV Adapt. b. Backpacks d. TubeMogul c. Beach towels running. They select the completed articles, videos illustra- d. Condoms tions and graphics, and upload them to Snapchat’s “plug 4. Facebook, shocked by and play” content management system. In it, everything 'the volume of valueless 10. 'To empower creators FOR PUBLISHERS, can be previewed live. inventory' it saw on Atlas, to make their best work shut down what part of its and get it in front of the FACEBOOK IS A BIT LIKE THAT ad server platform? audience they deserve' is STEP 3: a. DMP the mission statement of BIG DOG GALLOPING TOWARD After the edition is compiled, another Tastemade editor b. DSP which company? creates the “top snap,” or the initial snap in the edition, c.SP S a. YouTube which is important because it's the first thing people see — d.TF W b. Vine YOU IN THE PARK. MORE OFTEN and an opportunity to hook the viewer immediately. c. Tumblr 5. This company is a 'cata- d. Meerkat THAN NOT, IT’S HARD TO TELL log of ideas,' rather than a

social network, according ANSWERS WHETHER HE WANTS TO PLAY STEP 4:

10. 5. c b

to its CEO. Once the top snap is designed, Tastemade editors check

9. 9. 4. d b

a. Twitter the edition for quality before dragging it into another tab

8. 8. 3. WITH YOU OR EAT YOU.” a a

b. Pinterest where it’s set to go live. During the meetings, the team also

7. 7. 2. b b

c. Facebook — Late New York Times media columnist studies analytics to see what people swiped up or over to

6. 1. c

d. Tumblr c David Carr, October 2014 figure out what they should focus on next.

4 5 VERBATIM LET ME Publishers For the past year, Digiday has hosted some of the brightest minds in publishing on the Digi- day Podcast, a half-hour weekly conversation Talking on the future of media and marketing. Talk has regularly turned to the challenges, and opportunities, facing publishers in the plat- TELL YOU Platforms form era. Here are a few of the top insights.

“It agonizes publishers. They have “[Platforms] are going to need quality ABOUT THE a choice. How hard are we going to news. No other form of content is optimize everything to get that social going to keep people coming back traffic, and how do those people who multiple times during the day.” see those stories feel any connection — Vivian Schiller, former NBC News to you as a publisher?” — David Plotz, digital head CEO, Atlas Obscura 90’S “The real competition is Facebook’s “There’s a huge market right now to app, Twitter’s app, Flipboard’s app. sell content. All these people are build- It forces everyone to think of what ing over-the-top platforms but there problems they’re solving.” aren’t a lot of people programming for — Cory Bergman, general manager, it.” — Jon Steinberg, CEO, Cheddar Breaking News

“The reality is we have fiscal respon- “Historically castles never work. sibility to make our revenue goals. We They become hotels. Nobody’s been have to make deliberate choices of able to defend moats. There’s never what we’re good at.” — Keith Hernan- been anything in our history to say dez, president, Slate that walled gardens survive.” — Raju Narisetti, svp of strategy, News Corp

“If you’re not embracing the con- tent-everywhere approach and you’re “Facebook doesn’t care about the not coming up with a way to have con- media world, and the media world versations with advertisers about how thinks it does. Facebook cares about you’re going to bake their brands in content their users find engaging and content on these platforms, you’ll be valuable.” Flannel was fashion, gas was 99-cents a We changed. We needed harder numbers in trouble.” — Rory Brown, president, — Jessica Lessin, CEO, The gallon and freelance writers made $2 a word. to back up our claims. We needed slimmer The Bleacher Report Information We charged glossy print prices and claimed stacks for leaner operations. For a while, pass-along metrics. We made fat stacks and we got by on what we were given to survive. apologized for nothing. Then came digital. Now, with header bidding, it’s time to get what we’re asking for. TAKE BACK THE HIGH GROUND. 6 Q /A

Beware of Outsourcing

Justin Smith, global Hit the pause button. Diversity is key. "The rush to the platforms needs to "The companies that are built to last CEO of Bloomberg be paused. The digital ad model is for the long run have focused on diver- Media, joined the relatively broken. This notion of taking sifying their revenue streams. They’re Digiday Publishing a broken model and outsourcing it still obsessing over developing a direct to frenemies who are larger and have relationship with their consumer, and Summit in Vail on much different strategic interests is a aren’t outsourcing that relationship. March 31. Smith question one needs to ask." You’ll see a fork in the road." discussed the risks Where’s the business model? Focus will win out. of publishers giving "I’ve never understood a fully distribut- "The future of profitable media is like over too much con- ed business model, where your owned a Fabergé egg. It’s creating beautiful, trol to platforms, and operated traffic is a tiny minority of extremely bespoke, focused communi- your overall business. It’s very exciting, ties. It has really original content that’s and why the race this notion of reaching hundreds of mil- not skewed by the platforms." to large audiences lions of people, but what is the business on those platforms model at the end of this rush?" Think about tribes. "If you want to be the leading business is often one to the VCs make bad media bosses. media company and reach them from bottom. "The rush to scale is being driven by their MBAs through the c-suite, it’s other forces. It’s being driven by valua- unlikely you’ll be able to engage those tions, the venture capital industry, and segments within that very large group. BY BRIAN MORRISSEY the people fanning the flames of scale. There are tribes within these groups. We’re already seeing the cracks in the There’s the technology tribe. There's wall of this model." the political and influencer tribe. Our view is that rather than using one Platforms do media better. monolithic brand, we’ll be able to de- "They’re creating better mobile experi- velop deeper direct relationships with ence. They’re creating better advertis- specific brands that spoke to them." ing products. The question is: do you outsource your whole media model? They’re doing it better because they have thousands of engineers and bil- lions of cash flow they’re reinvesting."

8 9 CHIT CHAT

There is a new publishing mantra: Message or perish. Publishers Get With an estimated 3 billion messaging app users world- wide — on Facebook’s Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat on Message and others — publishers can't afford to ignore the space. BY GARETT SLOANE

Facebook Messenger WhatsApp Snapchat WeChat Line Kik

How popular is it? How popular is it? How popular is it? How popular is it? How popular is it? How popular is it? The standalone messaging app Facebook’s other messaging giant Snapchat claims 100 million daily This China-based messaging app is Japan-based Line has more than The Canadian messaging app has 900 million users. Messenger now has 1 billion users. It boasts a users and 8 billion video views a day. basically the blueprint for what the 215 million monthly users, mostly counts more than 260 million boasts 50 million businesses on global user base and 70 percent of Almost 60 percent of the audience rest of the world is trying to mimic, a outside the U.S. In Japan, Line is so registered users, although it does it — and the mantle of fastest-grow- users use it daily. It gets 1 million here is 18- to 24-years-old. The app true platform for social, commerce, popular that Tokyo has retail out- not break out monthly active users. ing app last year. Users spend an new users a day and sees 30 billion reached a milestone in March, when games and media. It has 700 million lets devoting to selling Line plushies It claims that 40 percent of U.S. average of 236 minutes per month, messages sent every day. it hit No. 1 in Apple's App Store for users, and about 85 percent of them and other paraphernalia. Nine in 10 18- to 24-year-olds are on the app according to comScore. the first time since it launched in are between the ages of 18 and 35. Japanese mobile social users aged and that its average session is 35 Publishing opportunities 2011. 30-39 use the messaging app. minutes. Publishing opportunities Most of its users are overseas, Publishing opportunities Messenger launched a bot store which may explain why many of Publishing opportunities The Subscription section turns Publishing opportunities Publishing opportunities in April, allowing anyone to build the early adopters have gone with Snapchat has a Discover section WeChat into a platform for develop- Everyone from The Wall Street BuzzFeed, The Washington Post automated experiences that help big international stories to try out where a select group of publishers ers, brands and publishers, which Journal to Mashable is on the app, and NBC are among the publishers consumers shop, play games or the platform. The New York Times including Cosmopolitan, IGN and can grow followers and market and The Economist is now using it with accounts. Kik has developed find news. CNN and The Wall Street jumped on WhatsApp to offer re- Vice post daily editions. Publishers their products and media. You'll to message charts and articles. The tools for publishers. If readers type Journal were among the first to al-time texts chronicling the Pope’s have limited ability to share content find big names like LinkedIn, Tesla publisher is posting five times a day, “LOL” or “WTF” to BuzzFeed, they launch chatbots that deliver news to visit to the U.S. in the fall. The BBC outside the app and have trouble and Buzzfeed promoting content to and pushes out Line notifications to are sent related links to stories. Messenger. Youth-focused, digital was on the app during the Ebola getting discovered by users within their Subscriptions followers. get readers clicking. publication Mic built a chatbot that crisis last year, messaging updates the app itself. Snapchat has begun will message a deep dive into one to people in areas affected. addressing both of these concerns. story daily.

10 11 Sponsored Content

DARLINE JEAN EXPLAINS PROGRAMMATIC'S PUSH FOR HEADER BIDDING Header bidding has come to the fore this year as ad tech’s newest promise to publishers. But just what is it, and why should publishers invest in it? We talked to PulsePoint’s COO, Darline Jean, to find out. First things first. What exactly is header bidding? It’s a programmatic technology that allows a publisher to offer their inventory to multiple partners at the same time. We take an ad unit on the page and offer that ad unit to all our demand partners simultaneously, there- by creating an even playing field. Header bidding allows competition among both programmatic and directly sold inventory, resulting in higher CPMs for the publisher.

Are things that uneven now? matic question: what will this do to our sales Publisher dev teams are doing a dozen If you're a publisher and you're integrated team? And the answer is, really nothing. different things. Why should header with an ad server, you’ll usually have a wa- Programmatic takes care of all the cookie bidding jump the cue? terfall. Publishers use the waterfall to priori- cutter placements so your sales team can The number one reason is revenue, revenue, tize unsold inventory, various sales channels go out and sell strategic partnerships or revenue and more revenue. There is a direct or partners. That type of set up doesn’t custom experiences. correlation behind implementing header allow for real-time competition so prices bidding and increasing revenue. We've seen aren’t necessarily as high as they could be. As for programmatic teams, a lot of hours a 147% average increase in CPMs in Q1 this With the introduction of header bidding, go into managing the complexities of the year alone in our exchange. that waterfall pretty much goes away. waterfall. Header bidding simplifies that entire process and your programmatic team At PulsePoint, an initial header bidding There’s been a big push on the tech can concentrate on other challenges. So integration typically takes two hours in side this year for header bidding. Are both sides of your revenue team benefit. hands-on engineering time and up to two publishers starting to warm up to the days for end-to-end testing. We offer a flex- concept? What’s the biggest misconception ible option, Header BiddingExpress, that’s as Right now, I would say that most US based around header bidding? easy as adding a JavaScript tag to your page. publishers are in the adaption stage of the Latency. Often, when publishers are con- It all goes back to finding a solution that technology. At PulsePoint, we’ve been cerned about latency it’s because they’ve will be best for the publisher’s needs and spending a lot of time educating and have installed multiple bidders directly without a goals and having partners with products to spent the last two quarters on-boarding wrapper framework. support that. quite a few publishers. But at the end of the day, header bidding is delivering much The best thing to do is to apply a wrapper higher yields, so buy-in is relatively easy first as a container that bidders plug into. since the KPIs are there. Partners, like PulsePoint, should work with the publishers to ensure proper set up. This Is there any friction at all? is where more education can go a long way There’s always the big lingering program- to increasing revenue.

12 SPONSORED CONTENT SPONSORED CONTENT 13 SUMMIT DIGIDAY SCHEDULE 2016 CAREER FAIR 2016

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DIGIDAY DIGIDAY DIGIDAY VIDEO ANYWHERE SUMMIT PROGRAMMATIC SUMMIT DIGIDAY BRAND SUMMIT NOVEMBER 9– 11, 2016 NOVEMBER 14 – 16, 2016 DECEMBER 5–7, 2016 AUSTIN, TX PALM BEACH, FL PARK CITY, UT THE

LITTLE SMALLER PUBLISHERS, with to come and play along,” says Ryan GUY LESS LEVERAGE Brown, vp of business development at The taking on of hosting and monetiz- Gawker Media. Even Gawker Media, ing content is all well and good, but it still whose CEO Nick Denton voiced reser- leaves publishers with the work of cre- vations about ceding too much control ating content — which is the expensive to Facebook, is now all-in on Instant part. It's also where they have an ability Articles. Denton has said that it's better to differentiate themselves, says Jason to be yoked to Facebook than the convo- Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next, a luted ad-tech world. There is a sense of In early April, when Google was trade association for premium publish- defeatism. Brown says, “It just became Icreating its fast-loading mobile pages ers. The problem is that losing control of apparent that we want to be where the initiative, AMP, it gathered together those parts of their business (such as ad audience is.” a group of big-name publishers to sales and content presentation) makes Other platforms demand heavier ask what their needs are. In fact, big it harder to project where that business lifting which big or well-financed pub- publishers like The New York Times will go long-term and relatedly makes lishers are better equipped to handle. contributed their own code — which, it hard to justify investing in their own Snapchat has its own publishing system naturally, addressed their specific editorial content. and requires (or encourages) content to interests — to what became the AMP “On the open web, they have control be custom-built because of its particular framework. They were, in that sense, over what they’re putting in front of vernacular, vertical video and young part of the creation. their audience; they had the ability to audience. Publishers with Snapchat But not all publishers are created differentiate,” Kint says. “If they’re going Discover channels have hired teams of equal. Other than the marquee pub- to put resources in an expensive venue eight or more people to supply it with lishers that platforms like Facebook and they don’t have much control over fresh, unique content on a daily basis. and Google still feel the need to court, the distribution of it, there’s just that Most publishers "can't even" when they most publishers are left on the outside much more risk.” hear of the resources deployed. looking in, without much of a say in the The publisher imbalance plays out in "You have to figure out what your direction of these initiatives. The tec- a few ways. One is the sheer negotiation team is good at right now," Slate tonic shifts to platforms no less affects power that big publishers have by virtue president Keith Hernandez said on the the little guy than the big guy, but that of their size. Google calls up The New Digiday Podcast in March. "The most fun doesn't mean the little guy gets a say. York Times to cater to its needs; most thing would be to say you’re not good Look no further than the rollout of publishers can't get an email returned. at Snapchat now, so let’s go hire people Facebook’s Instant Articles format and “Platforms are trying to get as much who are good at Snapchat. The reality is Snapchat’s Discover platform last year. scale as possible," says Michael Macher, we have fiscal responsibility to make our The New York Times was on board, publisher of The Awl Network, which has revenue goals. We have to make deliber- and so was National Geographic and thrown in its lot with Medium. "They’re ate choices of what we’re good at.” BuzzFeed. Their big names and deep incentivized to work well with big ones." Video is another area that spotlights resources allowed them to be part of Another big factor in the inequality the divide among publishers. There’s the launch. Their audiences are a fac- is the costs that need to be sunk into big demand among advertisers for tor, too: The platforms are competing creating content for these platforms. with each other to get people to spend To be sure, some platforms require only time there, and courting publishers minimal engineering work to get on that already have large readerships board and reap the benefits. The Apple is one way to ensure that. For other News app and Google’s AMP have a low publishers, that means becoming fast barrier of entry, costwise. Apple, for followers. instance, has introduced tools aimed "If you want to play in the world of specifically at making it easier for small- MANAGING Google and Facebook — and you do, be- to medium-sized publishers to post to cause they drive a huge amount of traffic the platform. Facebook Instant Articles A PLATFORM — you figure out how to make it work," has democratized itself by opening up “ says Patrick Starzan, svp marketing and to all publishers and making a Word- STRATEGY The web was supposed general manager of social media at video Press plug-in to simplify the process comedy site Funny or Die. of publishing to Instant Articles from MEANS BEING HAVES AND to democratize content. WordPress. Think again. “Facebook and Google are reducing RUTHLESS.” friction so it’s going to make it easier for HAVE NOTS BY LUCIA MOSES publishers of small and medium sizes

16 17 Remember when the waterfall took control MAKE IT A out of your hands?

FULL PAGE AD WRECKINGFULL PAGE AD Time to swing that pendulum BALL back.

But this time... STATUS QUO MEET HEADER BIDDING. ads that look and read like editorial content. But here again, big publishers have the advantage. Native advertising is time-consuming and expensive to do, and is hard for publishers to do profitably without a big audience to distribute it across.

PLAYING TO THEIR STRENGTHS For publishers with more limited resources, managing a platform strategy means being ruthless about where they place their bets. The Awl Network has focused on branded content, leveraging its production quality and trusting audi- video inventory, but making quality multiple platforms — not to mention ence, and has won some big campaigns video and repurposing it for different having the big audiences that are still a this way. On the content side, they’d like Jon Steinberg Paul Rossi Wendy Clark platforms requires time and money. requirement for many ad buyers. to do more podcasts and original video, founder & CEO, Cheddar president, The Economist Group CEO, DDB Worldwide Snapchat's vertical video autoplays It’s an awkward time in media, where but have instead focused on platforms with sound. Facebook video is autoplay distributed audiences are growing such as Instant Articles and Medium but silent, so publishers have to figure faster than publishers’ ability to that already are a better match for their out how to capture people’s attention monetize them, says Paul Berry, CEO content, given the reality, says Macher, with captions on the video as they scroll and founder of RebelMouse. But the that “we aren’t in a position to build a through their News Feed. big, VC-backed publishers are focused five, 10-person team for one platform.” “You can’t tiptoe into Snapchat — foremost on scale and have enough Funny or Die stretches its mandate by you have to go all in,” says Gawker's runway to afford to be able to figure looking to hire people who are versatile, Brown. As for video: "The economics out the revenue later, so they can bet- people who can “pop in and out, shoot require you have a certain level of views ter afford to take a risk on a platform something for Periscope and Snapchat to justify the expense you put in. It’s where the payoff isn’t necessarily and switch gears. We get a lot out of expensive to produce.” known. people,” Starzan says. And while publishers have the While some platform moves seem Salon doesn’t have the resources to opportunity to reach new audiences on to offer benefits to publishers, others figure out how to adapt its longform Jason Stein Vivian Schiller Bridget Williams these platforms, if they want to mea- work against them, as Emily Bell, direc- articles to Instagram or Snapchat, but founder & CEO, Laundry Service independent advisor, Weber Shandwick COO, Food52 sure it for themselves and potential ad- tor of the Tow Center for Digital Jour- even if it did, it might favor putting them vertisers, they have to pay comScore to nalism at Columbia Journalism School, toward its politics coverage or video have additional platforms measured, recently pointed out in a speech titled group. As editor-in-chief David Daley which is another barrier for entry for "The End of the News as We Know It: puts it, “We have to ruthlessly prioritize smaller players. How Facebook Swallowed Journalism." everything we do.” She cites how the Apple News app has Conversations with the minds THEN THERE’S ADVERTISING provided another distribution outlet Despite their efforts to diversify for publishers, which is good. But at their revenue into other areas like the same time, the tech giant made it events, ecommerce and subscriptions easier for its mobile phone users to shaping the future of media or memberships, advertising is still block ads that appear on publishers’ the dominant model for publishers. In own sites (not so good). addition to negotiating clout, being a As Bell points out, one way pub- bigger publisher means having access lishers have been trying to insulate to bigger sales teams that can absorb themselves from declining digital ad the demands associated with selling on rates and ad blocking is by selling Find us on iTunes and SoundCloud

20 EXPLODING WATERMELONS

Facebook Live is Ready for Its Closeup

Live video has here are only a handful of live aging a wide range of media companies spend watching video on Facebook. “The advantage in live is that struggled to gain a events that have the power to to go live on the platform. It’s even On-demand videos on Facebook it’s often around breaking news, draw large numbers of viewers. paying a few partners, including Buzz- typically run just a minute or two. so people would be predisposed strong foothold on The Super Bowl. The Oscars. Feed and Vox Media, to produce that Facebook counts a video as viewed to going to Facebook to find out the web. Whether The Grammys. Late Friday content. as soon as it has played for just what’s going on,” says Chris Dorr, it was a lack of ad- afternoon on April 8, it was an three seconds, so it’s difficult to executive director of the Global Texploding watermelon. I WANT MY FTV gauge their staying power. With live Online Video Association. “It will vanced technology Facebook has made a serious bet on And people are watching. It might videos, which usually run longer, also allow users to see what’s being or just a dearth of live streaming video — and publishers not be at BuzzFeed levels, but TMZ there's more potential for viewers experienced by their social graph good content, live have been quick to adapt. Outlets rang- is getting as many as 100,000 live to stick around. That translates and the world at the same time.” ing from The Washington Post to TMZ, viewers for its regularly scheduled live into more time people are spend- video has been the as well as a plethora of sports teams, programming, which includes TV show ing on Facebook and not another THE OPPORTUNITY FOR domain of TV. are all producing live content for recaps and conversations between platform. FACEBOOK Until now. Facebook. BuzzFeed provides the best Hollywood lawyers. “We want to do things that Facebook’s dive into live video is example of why content creators are Encouraged that its own food-porn people are going to find enjoyable,” a clear attack on Twitter’s Peri- so eager to experiment with Facebook receives as many as 140,000 live view- says Fidji Simo, director of product scope. Publishers with millions of BY SAHIL PATEL Live: its attempt to make a watermelon ers, digital culinary network Taste- for Facebook. “But yes, we always Facebook fans would rather put live

explode by wrapping it in rubber bands made is betting big on Facebook Live, try to get people more engaged on content there than try to convince NICE MELONS: The exploding fruit seen peaked with 807,000 live viewers. too. It plans to produce 100 live shows the platform.” them to open a separate app. But 'round the web That’s TV-sized scale. per month on the platform, spanning To be sure, users are already Periscope is not the only social “A few years ago, we were live food, travel and lifestyle content. While spending a lot of time on Facebook platform that should be worried. streaming batting practice on our web- it’s one thing to see how publishers — especially on mobile, where it Facebook has come out with new site. It was neat that we were able to do embrace the format, live video also accounted for nearly 16 percent of features including filters and the that, but it required a lot of logistics holds a lot of potential for Facebook as mobile traffic inside North Amer- ability to doodle while going live, and manpower,” says Bryan Srabian, vp a platform and a business. ican homes last fall, according clearly targeted at users who do of brand development and digital me- “Facebook is a bit like TV: You go to broadband services company similar things on Snapchat. dia for the San Francisco Giants. “Now to your screen and you kind of scroll Sandvine. If more users come to Facebook's Simo won't directly that we can do [live video on Facebook] down your feed and choose something Facebook and spend more time comment on whether those new with a single iPhone and immediately to watch,” says Oren Katzeff, head of watching live content, that number interactive features are designed to reach 3 million fans — to do that in an programming at Tastemade. “Live will only increase. get people to spend more time on instant is mindboggling.” creates this sense of appointment view- Early Facebook data suggests Facebook versus other platforms, FACEBOOK IS WHERE Facebook’s embrace of live video ing, which is unique from an audience this is already happening. Users but adds: “Facebook is where the comes from the highest eschelons. CEO standpoint and something that no one are watching live broadcasts three audience is, it’s where your friends YOUR AUDIENCE IS.” Mark Zuckerberg has made it a top else can do at the scale they’re able to.” times longer than on-demand vid- are. We’re focused on just making “ priority and Facebook’s video team has This is especially important when eos, and comments on live videos the experience better.” taken the mission to heart. It is encour- considering how much time people are on average 10 times higher, the Now Facebook is upping the ante company says. by improving quality of live video

22 23 EXPLODING WATERMELONS WTF

THAT'S ALWAYS THE QUESTION HANGING IN THE AIR: WTF is a View? “WHERE'S THE FINANCIAL RETURN ON THIS?" A view is a view is a view — except when it isn’t.

for its platform. It's now possible to stream for publishers. Live video, especially now While more plat- I don’t get it. Isn’t the them. Many publishers videos started playing. TV-like live videos — with multiple camera that it’s prioritized under Facebook’s new idea of a 'view' pretty have also adopted in- Twitter has also yield- setups — directly on Facebook. The opportu- video section on its mobile app, could pro- forms and publishers obvious? stream and out-stream ed to advertisers by nity to do more polished live streams could vide a clearer path to video ad revenue. are embracing the It should be, but it isn’t. autoplay video ads that only charging when vid- prove to be engaging for users who would Facebook hasn’t disclosed exactly how it higher engagement ComScore, which mea- don’t appear before eos were 100 percent rather not watch a video shot on a smart- plans to help publishers make money with and CPMs of dig- sures the performance videos at all. in-view and watched for phone or tablet. live content. But it’s been promising that live ital video, they’re of publishers’ videos on 30 seconds. “There is a lot of upside to doing more live in-stream ad options are coming. With live their sites, counts a vid- Is a view on Facebook streams,” says Jigar Mehta, vp of digital op- videos running much longer than the typical not agreeing to how eo as “viewed” when it's really the same as a This make things erations at Fusion. “But we still need to make 30-second to one minute-long Facebook those videos get mea- been watched for longer view on YouTube? complicated for video sure that we have the raw feeling of going video, there are opportunities to insert ads sured. Here’s a prim- than three seconds. No, the two are very creators too. live. If it doesn’t feel native to the platform, within the content without alienating users er on the “view” and Facebook, too, uses the different. On Facebook, Creators are in a similar Facebook users are going to reject it by not — at least that’s the hope. why no one can agree three-second rule. most users just see vid- boat as advertisers sharing and commenting.” “Eventually, publishers are going to eos in their feeds and in that they’re trying on how to define it. Fusion’s Jorge Ramos was one of the first want to know how much time they should YouTube, in contrast, have short attention to get a handle on the to embrace Facebook Live, producing broad- be spending on [Facebook Live] and other says a video is viewed spans. When they go to many definitions of a casts while reporting on the U.S. presidential things that require staff,” says Gelman. BY RICARDO BILTON when users start YouTube, in contrast, view and how to best race. In the six months since his “America “While we are very eager to participate, actually engaging with they typically are optimize to them. And with Jorge Ramos” team started experi- that's always the question hanging in the air: it — usually around there for a reason so some aren’t happy menting with Facebook video, he has grown Where's the financial return on this?” 30 seconds. Vine and they have an incentive about how Facebook in followers from 190,000 to 1.7 million today. Live video is the most expensive pro- Instagram count a view to stick around longer. particular has changed With the potential reach Facebook offers, gramming on TV, with advertisers willing to at six and 15 seconds, As a result, YouTube’s things. live video has become as vital as TV for Ra- pay top dollar to reach attentive viewers. If respectively. standards are higher. mos, says executive producer Dax Tejera. Facebook can develop its own live product Like who? While most Facebook Live content has the way it has grown in-news feed video, it How have we not set- Do agencies really “Applying that word been shot on phones and tablets, TV-quality has a similar opportunity to capture more tled on a single metric want to pay for a [view] to something far broadcasts aren’t out of the question. Face- video ad dollars. here? video ad that some- less valuable is going to book recently dropped its bid to live stream Right now, advertisers are more interest- It’s a good question. one watched for just be extremely disruptive regular-season NFL games, but it certainly ed in the potential for doing live branded The most cynical three seconds? to creators,"says You- has the technology, money and audience to content than a new way to buy media on answer is that the more Not all of them. Face- Tube creator John do big live events. And it wouldn't be surpris- Facebook, according to Topher Burns, group loosely you define a book recognized this Green. "Ad agencies ing if the company makes another serious director of distribution strategy at Deep view, the more views last summer when it and brands are con- bid in the future. Focus. “Media companies are going to need you can claim to get. gave advertisers the fused enough without “It will allow them to make a case to make decisions faster [with Facebook Live] Facebook, which says option to only pay Facebook muddying advertisers that they are a valuable first and than advertisers,” he says. “Brands can often that users watch 8 for video ads if users the waters by calling second screen,” says Micah Gelman, director wait and see what’s working and where the billion videos a day, au- watched them for more something a view when of editorial video for The Washington Post. data goes.” toplays videos in users’ than 10 seconds. Previ- it is in no way a measure Which would be good news for video pub- Facebook, meanwhile, is aware of the feeds, even if those us- ously, advertisers were of viewership." lishers on Facebook, too. Right now, video revenue potential for live video if done right, ers are just scrolling by charged as soon as on Facebook is in the audience development says Simo: “We know that it’s important to stage. The revenue path is still uncertain them.”

24 25 ON THE SLOPES

Into the Void

In late March, we gathered together PUBLISHING over 150 top publishers and as many tech providers for the largest-ever SUMMIT Digiday Publishing Summit. Over the course of three days in snowy Vail, Colorado, we discussed the chal- VAIL lenges that publishers face as they reorient their businesses to the new realities of platform power. Exec- utives from The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Refinery29, The Huffington Post and others agreed that platforms like Facebook have gathered unparalleled power — and the question now for media is how to adapt.

26 27 ON THE SLOPES

'Distrustful of numbers' Bosses just don't rates and comparing us to More “I’m really distrustful of the understand shitty networks that have numbers platforms are giv- “I have bosses who are will- lower value and no premi- Platforms, ing us. Our experience with ing to listen and invest, but um inventory, all because Apple News is awful. Nielsen they don’t fundamentally they’re supposedly ‘fulfilling More had that whole problem understand how to publish viewability.’ I don’t see how with time spent on Face- on the internet. They're networks are offering 100 book. It makes us so much very prone to coming in percent viewability at the Problems more cautious. I commend and saying, 'My kids are on rates they’re asking, which PUBLISHERS people who are taking the Snapchat, why aren't we on is in the $30-40 range, and leap in getting on platforms, Snapchat?' We're in B2B, delivering. And they’re CONFESS THEIR but it makes it more difficult and that's not where our asking the same thing from BIGGEST for me to sell it to manage- customers are. So there's a premium publishers. We’re ment.” lot of explaining about that.” not dropping our pants and CHALLENGES doing it, but when you nego- tiate at a rate that’s higher Thinking about Follow the money than the networks, we still the user first “For somebody like me who have issues fulfilling that.” “We’re getting into Face- grew up in the media indus- book and AMP, and they’re try, where you had to make Publishing today is an ex- still so new. Apple News — money, my philosophy has A lack of transparency ercise in constant adapta- all the data they’re giving always been, you need to "It’s such a trade-off. All tion, whether it’s figuring us is wrong. I don’t know be self-sufficient. The more these companies are on out how to distribute on if consumers like these you are, the more opportu- Facebook and Snapchat, platforms, getting a fair experiences better than nities you have in the long but no one wants to share shake from advertisers, or what they had before. We’re run to invest in product and real stats on how much tracking readers across thinking about the user take care of your audience. business those platforms the web. At the Digiday first. You need to know how Today, it’s morphed into are bringing in. Venture Publishing Summit in Vail, they’re engaging.” what is sexy and how much capital is putting a shit-load we asked publishers to money you’ve raised, and of money in BuzzFeed and write down their biggest not whether you’re running Refinery29 and others, and I challenges. Then we asked 'A hostage negotiation' a self-sufficient business.” get it. But there needs to be a select few of them to elab- “It harkens back to the rich a whole lot more business orate, anonymously. Here’s media days. We sign a deal transparency." what they said. with advertisers, and the ad Unreal expectations tech company is piggyback- “We’re working with video ing on an existing deal and networks trying to figure Contributing: Lucia Moses BY SAHIL PATEL pushing us to pay the bill. out how to deliver on this You also have clients asking unreal expectation. It us to pay their ad serving doesn’t align with MRC fees. Agencies are expecting standards. Because of the us to pay it directly because depth and breadth of who they’re getting squeezed. they are, they’re bully- It’s a hostage negotiation.” ing publishers for lower

28 29 ON THE SLOPES

Highlights from the Digiday Publishing Summit At the Digiday Publishing Summit, publishing executives talked about everything from the role platforms and brands will play in shaping the future of the industry to ad blocking to alternate revenue streams.

BY SAHIL PATEL

Go where the audience is and hope the “Facebook and Snapchat are going to be the revenue follows future Comcasts of the world.” — Refinery29 co-founder and CEO Philippe von Borries 98: The percentage of The Atlantic’s articles that it publishes as Facebook Instant Articles 10: The number of people Food Network and People each have on their Snapchat teams “It’s all over the map. We’re still looking for that 14: The number of pieces of content Food Network publishes to Snapchat every day 80: The percentage of People’s Snapchat Discover content that is made exclusively for big answer, but it might be more nuanced than Snapchat that.”— Kim Lau, gm and vp of digital, The Atlan- 0: The profit Food Network is currently making on the platform tic, on the impact of Facebook Instant Articles

Native ads are one way publishers are trying “VR storytelling creates an empathy between to fix the broken ad model a journalist and a reader that’s stronger than 50: The percentage of publishers who say they enlist their editorial staffs to create any storytelling device in the history of jour- native advertising, according to Nativo nalism.” — Kevin Gentzel, CRO, Gannett 10: The percentage of content on Refinery29 that is sponsored (and labeled with a NEXT ISSUE OF disclaimer). “It’s on the TV screen, how much more viewable can it get?” —TV ad-sales executive, Millennials read more than just the sites privately grousing about dealing with ad agen- built for them cies’ demands to meet viewability standards on PULSE PROGRAMMATIC 35: The percentage of About.com's health readers that are between 18 and 34 connected TVs 34.9: The percentage readers on CNN.com between 18 and 34 33: The percentage of readers on Reader’s Digest between 18 and 34 “Three seconds on Facebook is a small Like what you’re reading? PopSugar has been profitable the past five years. amount of time. Does that meaningfully mean Here are 3 ways it makes money: it’s a view? The jury is still out.” — Paul Sundue, executive director, Studio@Gawker Media Look out for the next issue • It's eschewed banner ads. Instead it relies on branded content and selling video ads against original content. “The distributed model is going to be one of • Its ShopStyle commerce platform drove $1 billion in sales for retail partners in 2015. the reasons that native advertising continues Summer 2016 • A $40-per-month subscription box service, which has 35,000 subscribers. (The company also does cheaper mini-boxes, plus seasonal boxes for advertising clients to advance and becomes a really powerful ad- including Neiman Marcus.) vertising tool.” —Adam Rich, co-founder, Thrillist

Lessons on fighting the ad blockers “You start diluting yourself, diluting your brand or pushing yourself in areas where you 9.7: The percentage of U.S. web users who use ad blockers, according to comScore 16.5: The percentage of U.S. web users age 18–24 who use ad blockers don’t have a core competency. All of a sudden • Blocking ad blocking software users or using reclamation companies may not be you start diluting the value of the company.” worth the time and effort. —Jared Grusd, CEO of The Huffington Post, on • It's better to focus on the user experience by showing fewer ads or making ads load faster. publishers' need to be authentic pulse.digiday.com 31 MEET YOUR OVERLORDS

Era of Empire

Facebook and Google t's early April, and viral site Little- broadcast live video on its platform. take in 85 percent of Things is about to live-broadcast To keep users lingering longer and a performance by Lily Green, a coming back more often, Facebook digital ad revenue. 16-year-old singer from New York. needs publishers' content. And they Now, they're here to Joe Speiser, the CEO of LittleTh- in turn are eager to figure out how help publishers. Uh-oh. ings, notes with satisfaction that they can take advantage of this grow- Inearly 6,000 people are already ing dependency — even reconfiguring tuning in; by the end of the day, the their organizations to do so. LittleTh- BY LUCIA MOSES 16-minute video will have gotten ings, a site offering feel-good articles 36,000 views. “The audience is crav- and videos that built itself entirely on ing this kind of content,” he says. Facebook, is now pushing hard into But LittleThings can’t get the full video, for which it’s hired 10 people, attentive to their requests lately. But they probably have little worries that publishers can invest to benefit of them, or the rest of the with plans to add another five (out Snapchat has made it easier for choice. All this is happening against make themselves essential, but that videos it distributes on Facebook, of 85 employees in all). “We’re not publishers to get exposure to their a backdrop of uncertainty about how can change at any time if Facebook which account for fully two-thirds of National Geographic, but there’s a big brands there. Facebook has created publishers — traditional and new decides to change up the kind of the 300 million video views it does delta between that and the exploding more avenues for publishers to sell ones — will fund their editorial opera- posts it rewards. per month. The video will appear on watermelon,” Speiser says, referring advertising on Instant Articles. tions at a time of declining digital It’s that reality that scares Neil Facebook Live, one of the platform's to BuzzFeed's instantly famous Face- Apple has put promotional muscle ad rates. Publishers are rightfully Vogel, CEO of About.com, who says biggest initiatives of the moment. But book Live experiment. behind its news aggregation app, trying to offset their dependence he's “absolutely petrified. There are like a lot of the initiatives that come Other examples abound: There's Apple News. on advertising with e-commerce, all these platforms that are between pouring out of Facebook, there's no Mashable, which recently laid off But for all that, publishers still are subscription revenue and events, you and your audience.” way of knowing what Facebook's 30 people as part of a pivot to do making a lot of content for platforms but few publishers have been able to About.com is in a vulnerable po- commitment to it will be and if it will more video. Bleacher Report is build- with uncertain payoff. Facebook still make those meaningful sources of sition; two-thirds of its traffic come be good for publishers in the long ing a 35-person social army to create doesn’t have a business model by revenue. No wonder publishers see from search. In his three years as the term. Still, they feel compelled to get original material to live on Facebook, which publishers can monetize their no choice but to submit themselves CEO of About.com, Vogel has seen on board. Instagram and elsewhere. Other pub- video there. to the platforms. the site lose traffic to Google and Such are the realities of being a lishers including CNN and Vox Media Sure, by publishing their stories as “More and more people are Facebook, and he can only speculate modern publisher in the age of plat- have hired dedicated teams to man- Instant Articles, publishers get to coming to your brand on the places why. “Engagement goes up, down, forms. And the king of them all, Face- age their platform distribution. Wait give readers a clean, fast-loading that are most native to them,” and we don’t know why, other than, book, is increasingly inserting itself for the bot teams — they're coming, experience, which theoretically says Jonathan Hunt, who heads up they’ve changed the algorithm. The into the publishing business. In April too. But chasing platform dreams not improves the chances they’ll come Vox Media’s global marketing. “For risk is, we figure it out, invest in it, at F8, its annual developer confer- only comes with no guarantee they'll back. But in addition to the fact that us, to not be there means we’re not and things change.” ence, it launched a bot platform for its be able to generate revenue there, it Facebook controls the ad terms, seen, and the risk is you fall out of But like other publishers, Vogel THE RISK IS YOU FALL messenger app where publishers and means forgoing investment in origi- publishers get scant information relevancy.” has no choice but to try his best to other companies can interact with nal editorial or other opportunities. about their readers on the platform, Ultimately, publishers are a keep up with what platforms want OUT OF RELEVANCY.” users; opened its fast-loading mobile It may seem like a honeymoon such as how much time they’re disparate collection of businesses and be prepared for the day — if and “ Instant Articles to all publishers; and period for publishers, as Facebook spending with articles and what sites that individually have little leverage when —that change comes. threw money at some publishers to and other platforms seem to be more they visited previously. over platform giants. There are real

32 33 DIGIDAY AFTER DARK

34 35 Glossy is tech, fashion, luxury, wearables, Instagram, virtual reality, modern media, streetwear DIGIDAY www.glossy.co AWARDS PROGRAM digiday.com/awards

SIGNAL | VIDEO | DIGIDAY AWARDS | PUBLISHING | CONTENT MARKETING WINTER IS COMING

Ad In the Gartner hype cycle, adver- cerns about being tracked and a web words, the industry spent billions tising technology is firmly stuck in surfing experience bogged down by of dollars on ad tech over the past the "trough of disappointment." slow-loading ads. few years and the consumer’s needs This is, in many ways, patently Transparency is another issue. were lost.” Tech's unfair. The shift from manual and Most advertisers and brands are Adding to all of the above issues, inefficient ad buying practices to unaware of all the commissions tech funding is slowing down. U.S. automated and data-driven ones is a they pay to the players in the ad venture capital decreased from Midlife no-brainer. There's little doubt that tech chain. Recently, the Interac- $31.1 billion in 2014 to $28.2 billion automation will play an ever-larger tive Advertising Bureau released a last year, according to Bloomberg, role in advertising. Yet ad tech in Transparency Calculator. Ironically, which leads to less funding for tech Crisis 2016 is a victim of its own success. conversations with some adver- startups this year. Meanwhile, there The need for ad tech won’t go ed consolidating different products Few people fight its ascendency, but tisers show that few even know were no tech IPOs in the first quar- away anytime soon. While targeting into single stacks such as Google As brands increasingly nagging questions have arisen based their number of "buyer technology ter of 2016. and attribution are getting complex 360 Suite, Adobe Marketing Cloud look to execute all of on outsized expectations. layers" when using the calculator, “Look at most display and due to increasing device fragmen- and Oracle Marketing Cloud. their programmatic Talk to brands and publishers, and nor how much they pay for each programmatic companies, and tation, brands and agencies are “These tools simplify the work- the formulation is basically the same. layer. you’ll see [their shares are] down becoming more sophisticated – they flow for marketer, although they are campaigns with just There are plenty of tech vendors Research by Digiday with Sonobi 50 percent this year,” says Jamie are doing due diligence more often to still relatively complex to under- one or two vendors, but not enough standards, driving in March showed that nearly 73 Hill, chairman and CEO of adMar- examine ad tech solutions. Venture stand and require a lot of training expect major consoli- marketer frustration to an all-time percent of 274 media buyers sur- ketplace. “They have little to no capitalists, on the other hand, are to leverage their full potential,” says high. Consumers don’t trust ads, as veyed said that placement transpar- technology and are operating in a becoming more selective, chasing Zawadzinski. dation. evidenced by the rise of ad blocking. ency was essential in their decision programmatic marketplace that’s fewer yet larger deals. One brand may have to work with Meanwhile, venture capitalists are to shift more ad spend from direct riddled with inefficient traffic. But “We’ve seen some big funding more than 10 tech vendors simulta- pouring less money into ad tech. to programmatic. Infectious Media's private equity forced them to go announcements and exits recently neously to run programmatic cam- BY YUYU CHEN 2015 survey shows that 65 percent public.” across the landscape. Clearly there paigns across different devices and TOO MUCH COMPLEXITY of B2C marketers considered "lack Rocket Fuel, for example, laid are companies that are proving ad formats. As companies increas- The Lumascape lays bare the sheer of transparency of financials" as the off 129 employees (11 percent of its their value to the right suitors,” says ingly looking to execute all of their amount of fragmentation in ad main barrier to increasing program- workforce) last year. In the fourth Drawbridge’s Ferrario. programmatic campaigns with just tech: “There are too many vendors matic ad spend. quarter of 2015, the company's high- Programmatic video ad tech one or two tech vendors, expect a claiming they do too many things “Many companies added multiple est stock price was $5.6 per share platform Coull, for example, secured massive consolidation. for too many people. It’s turned ad technology layers that charge addi- compared to its IPO price of $29 additional investment of $6.3 million “I expect we will see substan- tech into a commodity market,” says tional fees on top of the inventory per share in 2013, according to its in February to launch its video ad tial consolidation in ad tech sector Brian Ferrario, vp of marketing at cost that can add up to 50 to 70 annual report. exchange. Meanwhile, Facebook fueled by firms’ needs to have programmatic ad company Draw- percent [of the total expense],” says decided to shut down its ad tech access to expertise encompassing a bridge. Maciej Zawadziński, CEO of ad tech THE NEGATIVITY CAN arm LiveRail's ad server in January variety of programmatic approach- Such fragmentation gives rise development company Clearcode. BE JUSTIFIED because the business is tiny. es and independent verifications,” to ad fraud and ad blocking. Ad- “It's neither healthy for the buy nor Ad tech’s intricacies don’t mean says Northeastern University’s vertisers are still spending millions the sell side.” that brands don’t want to invest in A SHAKEOUT IS COMING Bart. on fraudulent impressions. Pro- Although there are industry it any more. Now, more than ever, Ad tech is going through cycles of Gradually some tech vendors grammatic display ads attracted standards for programmatic ads (for companies want to find ways to op- hype and acceptance, and it will will drop out of the game either 14 percent more bot traffic than example, the IAB’s mobile program- timize their advertising efforts and eventually mature into a function- because they are not profitable or average while programmatic video matic playbook), they don’t get maximizing effectiveness, according al standard. As complicated as it is, they cannot find their next round had 73 percent more bots, according followed as closely as they should, to Yakov Bart, marketing profes- there’s no single way out of ad tech’s of funding. And big players like to Outdoor Advertising Association according to Jason Kint, CEO of sor for Northeastern University’s midlife crisis. But tech solutions will Google, Facebook and Adobe will of America’s fourth-quarter 2015 trade association Digital Content D’Amore-McKim School of Business. be simplified for both the demand further acquire smaller survivors. THE CONSUMER'S report. And the same report shows Next. “Intermediaries and ad tech “They don’t want to miss out on side and the supply side, which will By then, those conglomerates can that 40 percent of the world’s companies without transparency programmatic, because when they bring more transparency to the perhaps refine their technology NEEDS WERE LOST.” internet users have installed some do not have the same accountability do it right, they can largely increase market, Clearcode’s Zawadzinski and seriously address the fraud and “ form of ad blocker, up from just 28 to provide value, trust and follow efficiency,” says Bart. predicts. After all, on the demand transparency issue. percent in mid-2015, fueled by con- standards,” says Kint. “In other side, companies have already start-

38 39 STOP SIGNS

European Block Party

European publishers are locked in an existential struggle with ad blockers without any clear path ahead.

BY JESSICA DAVIS, LUCINDA SOUTHERN SWEDEN GERMANY UNITED KINGDOM FRANCE Media companies that whitelisted sounds a lot like heavily rely on advertising as an old-fashioned protection a prime revenue stream have racket. In the U.K., culture taken a tough-love approach secretary John Whittingda- to ad blocking: Publishers in le recently condemned ad Germany, France, Sweden, blocking companies, calling and the U.K. are blocking them just that and vowing their content from visitors to take action in helping the GERMANY UNITED KINGDOM SWEDEN FRANCE with ad blockers enabled. media industry deal with the Bild, Germany's largest issue. daily with 10 million monthly In Germany, Axel Springer, visitors, has led the hard-line and broadcasters RTL and camp. Its approach has been ProSiebenSat1 sued Adblock 42% 22% 35% 30% straightforward: no ads, no Plus' parent Eyeo, but lost. access. The European Publishers Germany is not just the heart of Europe; To ban or not to ban, that is the ques- The Swedes are serious. Thanks to a True to form, the French publishing But most publishers aren't Council executive team it’s the heart of ad blocking. German tion. Most British publishers are opting small market of just 10 million people industry loves a call to protest. Top willing to go that far. Instead, believes more legal action is users are avid ad block software users. to rely on progressively stronger — but — and maybe a dash of Scandinavian publishers — including national papers they're trying to cater to likely to come in 2016, across In fact, one of the largest ad blocker polite, of course — requests for users to cooperativeness — nearly all of Sweden’s Le Monde, Le Figaro, Le Parisien, and ad-averse visitors with offers. Europe. Publishers are also makers, Eyeo, is based in Germany. turn off ad blockers. Only finance and top publishers have banded together L’Equipe — banded together in March Some have offered subscrip- keeping a wary eye on the The market is also at the forefront business newspaper City AM has tried a to try out a month-long ad blocker ban. for a one-week trial targeting ad block- tion or micropayment alter- mobile carriers like Three of the fight against ad blocking. Axel ban — with some success. The Guardian, The idea: users will have no choice to ing software users en masse. The front, natives to those who would that are promising to block Springer’s Bild has blocked access on the other hand, is fiddling with its turn off their ad blockers if they want organized by national trade body Geste, like ad-free experiences. If ads at the carrier level. to its content from visitors using ad wording to get more to whitelist it. Trini- access to news. The August trial will was not exactly united: some are going they don’t want to pay, then Here's a look at how ad blockers unless they pay up or turned ty Mirror’s strategy director Piers North be watched with interest from other for a full block while others are simply they must switch off their ad blocking is being approached off their blocker. The result: the share says publishers have to be more pro- markets in Europe and beyond. The requesting users turn them off. Daily blocker to view the content. differently by market — with of ad blocking users fell by two thirds. active based on trends — 27 percent of Swedes are informally calling it the “get- tabloid Le Parisien has offered a micro- Like the U.S., many Eu- the ad blocking rates for “Making the ads better won’t solve the U.K. users will use ad blockers next year, our-shit-together” project. “We’re not payment option. All hope is not lost: Le ropean publishers chafe at each country, as measured problem,” says Bild’s managing director according to forecasts by eMarketer. going to solve the industry problem by Figaro got 20 percent of ad-block users the business models of ad by Global Web Index (see of digital Stefan Betzold. “We can’t solve The key: turning down “easy revenue” to whitelisting, that only helps individual to whitelist the site thanks to a cam- blocking software provid- note on page 42 measure- it by just waiting and praying. You need ensure better quality. “The money can publishers,” says Daniel Weilar, CEO of paign. The downside: 80 percent kept ers. The tendency to charge ment vagaries). to have the balls to do something.” be made back elsewhere,” North says. Nyheter24 Gruppen. on blocking ads. publishers to have their sites

40 41 STOP SIGNS PROGRAMMATIC SUMMIT NEW ORLEANS

LIES, DAMN LIES AND AD BLOCKING STATS Ad blocking statistics are often contradictory and frequently biased. The U.K.’s ad blocking rate is 22 percent, according to the IAB, 28 percent according to Global Web Index and 20 percent according to Pagefair. For this feature, we used GWI.

PORTUGAL THE NETHERLANDS GREECE

THE NETHERLANDS PORTUGAL GREECE 27% 46% 37% SEE WHO’S DOUBLING

The Netherlands is taking a liberal Ad blocking is not just a central Euro- These are tough times in Greece all approach to ad blocking. The main tack: pean phenomenon. Portugal has one of around. Publishers have been hit hard DOWN ON QUALITY IN serve pop-up messages to ad-block us- the highest ad blocking rates in Europe. by the currency crisis and persistent ers “educating” them that advertising is There’s not a consensus why exactly. economic downturn. Now, they have to needed to fund free content. Publishers Most publishers are looking to a multi- contend with a propensity of users to PROGRAMMATIC tend to also ask for whitelisting. Mostly, step approach. Step one is to explain employ ad blockers. In some sense, the Dutch publishers are seeing ad blocking clearly to users why ads are needed overall economic challenges have moved as a reason for cleaning up their acts. to fund content. Publishers are also ad blocking down the priority list, May 23 – 25, 2016 Sports site Voetbal, for instance, dras- discussing some form of regulation of ad according to Nikolas Moschakis, policy tically cut down on the number of ads blocking, although the form that would advisor to the European Publishers and their load. Stefan Havik, director of take is unclear. But for the most part, Council. Some have taken to polite noti- The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, LA marketing and advertising at Helsin- publishers want users to understand fications to ad block software users that ki-based media group Sanoma, believes the tradeoffs of ad-supported media. advertising is needed for publications to a variety of approaches are needed but if you use ad blocking filters you may survive. “Their biggest issue is serving a remains an optimist. “If we keep produc- lose quality of information,” says Nuno smashed market,” says Moschakis, “and ing high-quality content, consumers will Conde, director-general of Portuguese the daily circulations of the newspapers digiday.com/events pay or accept our ads,” he says. media conglomerate Impresa. are falling.”

42 43 WHAT DO YOU DO?

Here’s a typical day for him, 10:00 a.m.: On-board and welcome slightly edited for clarity: new sports social media manager Rawan Eewshah, who joins us from 7:00 a.m.: Wake up, check all the BuzzFeed. Crowdtangle reports while in bed. 10:05 a.m.: Promise managing edi- 7:15 a.m.: Me and the wife, Deirdre tor Ashley Strang that I’ll finish my Maloney, wake up our 1-year-old editor's letter today. I don’t really daughter, Lennox. Make scram- mean it, but I feel like I need to say bled eggs for her, turn on NY1. it anyway. Antoniello to discuss Snapchat Every morning I drink a smoothie strategy and business plan. with Allmax Isoflex protein, half 10:10 a.m.: Second round of emails. a banana, blueberries, blackberries Noon: Meeting with founder and and almond milk, have a giant cup 10:15 a.m.: Music channel meeting CBO Marc Ecko to discuss brand of coffee and watch anchor Pat with managing editor Lauren Nos- strategy and election coverage. Kiernan, reporter Roger Clark and tro and director of content strategy Complex News has become You- traffic reporter Jamie Shupak. Fun Joe La Puma, vp of content oper- Tube’s sole partner in their election fact: Jamie used to contribute to ations Jack Erwin and director of coverage, giving us a really exciting Complex, and one of my favorite sto- content development Ben Shapiro. I platform at the recent debates. The ries was our "Oral History of NY1." still sit in on as many of the editorial great thing about working with a Real New Yorkers know. meetings as time allows. We talk out creative like Ecko is that it's truly a the coverage of impending Drake al- brainstorm, where you start talking 7:30 a.m.: Hop on laptop, check bum release coordinating art, video about the election and how crazy Chartbeat and Google Analytics. and text ideas. Other than that they it is that for a lot of our audience, it Catch up on Twitter, Facebook catch me up on some of the new art- might be the first time they're voting. and Instagram. Read news stories ists they expect to cover extensively That's a big responsibility, so we from everything from The New in the second half of the year. talked through what that would look Famous Friends and York Times and The Washington like as the election continues to heat Post to Salon to FastCompany to 10:30 a.m.: Check Chartbeat and up and the youth vote is up for grabs. WorldStarHipHop and #Shade- Google Analytics. Read as many Cold Soba Noodles Room and drink more coffee. of our trending stories as I can. 12:30 p.m.: Greenlight meeting Sent a note congratulating our with vp of video Marc Fernandez 8:30 a.m.: Nanny arrives. Time to sports team for one of my favorite to go over the slate and production shower and get dressed. Selecting branded content pieces of late, "The schedule. Watch sizzles for top-se- sneakers is a process. Fire off first Oral History of the 1996 Chicago cret new programming. A day in the life of es, Noah Callahan-Bever Complex's network of sneaker round of emails. Bulls." Jordan is obviously a huge Complex's chief knows Kanye West. and lifestyle sites reached 52 million part of the culture, first as a player 1 p.m.: Lunch. Every day I get grilled That’s one of the most visitors in February. Under Cal- 9:30 a.m.: Take the C train to the and then for his sneakers and now chicken and cold soba noodles from content officer common questions the chief lahan-Bever, it has pushed into office; catch up on Snapchat while for the Jordan crying face meme, Little Beet. Literally every day. I’m content officer of Complex new verticals and increased its vid- on the platform. but going back into that era is a a weirdo. Eat at desk. More loud BY JORDAN VALINSKY Media, where West was a eo output. In April, Verizon and service almost to kids who might rap. This time more contemporary. Yguest editor in the mid 2000s, gets Hearst announced they agreed to 9:45 a.m.: Arrive at the office. not know the ins and outs of it. Spotify’s Rap Caviar. Lil Uzi Vert, asked. While having famous friends acquire Complex Media in a deal Usually by this time the edit room is ya’ll! Plus reading stories on Complex is one perk (for the record, he re- valued between $250 million and filling up and the team is comment- 10:40 a.m.: Catch sneakers associ- [verticals] First We Feast, Pigeons mains friendly with the rapper), he $300 million. ing on the news of the morning and ate editor Matthew J. Welty in the And Planes and Sole Collector. Then explained to Digiday that his job isn’t “We have been opening the what crazy memes are making the hallway and compliment him on more emails. all that flashy. aperture as time as go on,” he rounds. One meme was Mr. Krabs wearing sweatpants to work. For the Callahan-Bever joined Complex tells Digiday. “Complex is a lens that from SpongeBob, but Twitter didn't 25th day in a row. He smiles with his 1:45 p.m.: Catch up on Complex OUR BRAND IS ALL 11 years ago as an editor before represents a point of view and that know what episode the wavy meme mouth; his eyes fill with hate. News on YouTube. Send notes to ABOUT BALANCING working his way up into his current lens can be applied to everything came from, so our pop culture team the anchors. In light of my election position, where he oversees a staff of from the Republican presidential did some hard-hitting journalism 10:45 am.: Quick check in with direc- conversation, I re-watched the Com- “ 150 people across several depart- primaries to Nick Jonas and Demi and found the original episode. tor of social media, Julian Patterson. plex News interview where we asked HIGH AND LOW.” ments, including editorial, video and Lovato and to the new Jordan There's no nook or cranny of the Trump if "it goes down in the DMs." branded content. sneakers.” internet we won't explore. 11 a.m.: Meeting with CEO Rich This is was a big win, and I was really

44 45 WHAT DO YOU FIRST GIGS DO? IT'S TOTALLY SURREAL TO “HAVE CULTIVATED A RELATIONSHIP WITH Q-TIP.”

5:30 p.m.: Meeting with creative director Brent Rollins and director of My photography Gina Batlle to discuss concepts for our next covers. They are being shot in about 14 days, so Big we need to nail down treatments and get decks to the talent for approval.

6 p.m.: A half hour of serenity in Break BY RICARDO BILTON my office alone. Catching up on the site’s content, email and general bullshit. Eventually Jack and Joe come in and we commiserate on the day's W's and L's and figure out the Nicholas The first time he got fired: guy came up to me and said, What defines his career: proud of reporters Nadeska [Alexis] 3:30pm: Call with Dante Ross, ADA plan of attack for tomorrow. Thompson I graduated from college and “Hey, would you like to come A lot of it's chance. When I editor of and Hanuman [Welch] for getting a records director of A&R (who was I didn’t quite know what to home with me for a Ramadan look back on it, it’s complete- NewYorker.com meme-y viral moment on the fly, but actually my boss in 2000, when I 6:30 p.m.: Early dinner with mu- do. I had done writing, but Feast?” We go to his home ly luck. I wanted to make sure that we had a was an A&R at his Sony distributed sic's Lauren Nostro at Ma Peche to Age: 40 I hadn’t done journalism and it turns out that he’s a plan in place to go harder next time. label, Stimulated Records) to cook discuss Apple Music strategy and Hometown: in college. Somehow I had drug dealer and needs me to What he learned from Our brand is all about balancing up some collaborative ideas around upcoming music content packages. Brookline, Mass. talked my way into getting distribute his drugs around launching the Atavist: high and low, funny and serious. the Pigeons And Planes brand. Those chicken sandwiches are so Trivia: hired at "60 Minutes" as an New York. They lock me in a You learn how to start a com- good. So spicy but so good. Grandson of former associate producer. I move bathroom. It’s a miserable, pany. You learn how to work 2 p.m.: On-camera workshop. In an 4 p.m.: Screening session with Marc United States Deputy to New York, I show up at "60 terrifying experience. But with founders. You learn how effort to improve my own on-camera Fernandez, Jack Erwin and Joe La 7:30 p.m.: Uber to New Jersey to Secretary of Defense Minutes" and the executive then they let me go. They to raise money. You learn presence, as well as understand the Puma of the documentary we’ve meet up with Q-Tip at his home stu- Paul Nitze, who producer says, “Who are decide I’m hopeless and that the perils of a startup, You particular challenges the Complex co-produced with Mass Appeal, dio. "Pass the aux cord, bruh bruh.” helped shaped U.S. you?” He asked me what I I have nothing they want. learn about hiring. You learn News anchors face I’ve been work- "Pimp C: Long Live The Pimp." Catch up on Pigeons And Plane’s foreign policy during know about television, and The great thing about about what to do with em- the Cold War. ing with producer Talibah Newman Soundcloud playlist of “The Best I said very little. He says that is that it gave me a ployees who don’t work out. on teleprompter green screen reads 4:30 p.m.: Meet with content strat- New Music of February.” “Then why did we hire you?” story that I wrote for The Those are all the things you as well as interview scenarios. I hate egist James Harris to go over third And I say, “I don’t know, but Washington Post travel learn running a company as it, but I will get better. quarter editorial initiatives. James 8:00 p.m.: Arrive at Tip’s house. you did.” So I was fired from section. It was my first real opposed to being an editor. will take these and package them Listen to tunes and watch the War- "60 Minutes" literally within journalism. 3 p.m.: Meeting with owned-and-op- up for our pre-sales team to create riors game. As a kid whose entire life an hour of starting there. His media crush: erated brand manager Sarah Honda sponsorship opportunities. changed in seventh grade when he The best advice he’s ever I read Vox all the time. I think to discuss upcoming merch initia- heard The Low End Theory for the How he got his first break: gotten: Vox has done a really good tives and product launches for First 4:50 p.m.: Check Chartbeat. first time, it’s a totally surreal experi- I went with one of my best The advice I think about job of both maintaining high We Feast and Pigeons And Planes. ence to have cultivated a relationship friends to Africa. The idea is the most often is a line from quality content while going We look at T-shirt designs and 5 p.m.: Meeting to discuss our New- with its architect. I try to pretend like that we were going to back- George Kennan that I read full force at the social media taste-test a really cool new top-se- Fronts presentation with communi- it’s regular, but I mean … COME THE pack around Africa together while working on my book world. I really respect what cret branded product. MORE FIRE! cations director Carmen Villafane, FUCK ON, HOW COOL IS THIS??? for a few months. And I about him: When things are they do. Marc Ecko, Rich Antoniello, Marc almost immediately get kid- going the wrong way, just try 3:25 p.m.: Check Chartbeat. Fernandez and chief revenue officer 11:30 p.m.: Uber back to Chelsea napped by drug dealers in to do one simple thing well. Moksha Fitzgibbons. We’re nailing and slip in bed with the wife. I wake Morocco. I had been playing That can start to turn things down time, venue and run of show. her up, of course. guitar in a train station, a around.

46 47 THE INSIDER’S OUTSIDER

The Platform Wrangler

n encounter with Choire Si- Vox’s Choire Sicha cha can be freewheeling and isn't your typical full of surprises. "Did you tell her how you growth hacker. tricked me into crashing Sally Quinn’s house?” he BY LUCIA MOSES Awhispers to his boss Melissa Bell, Vox Media's vp of growth and analyt- ics, as he pops open a can of seltzer. “That’s a secret!” squeals Bell. Turns out, in her previous role as platforms director at The Washing- ton Post, she was invited to a dinner party at the home of the legendary Post journalist and superstar social- ite, to which Bell brought Sicha and his husband unannounced. “Poor Sally Quinn, who's this im- maculate hostess, had to add extra tables to her dinner party," she says. “It was amazing,” says Sicha. Sicha has made a career of being out of place at the Big Media dinner party, and today is no different. Like many publishers, Vox Media has The flagship Awl is also known for companies, Vox has eight verticals to Medium.) She got to know him have to have an expertise in all the decided that its future depends on its sharp media criticism; in 2015, including Vox.com, Curbed and when she was at the Post and cold- things you’re not doing to be that buddying up to the big platforms like it published a well-traveled piece Racked. All in, they reached 62.5 emailed him, having admired how he good at what you’re doing. He built a Facebook. So earlier this year when by John Herrman that warned that million uniques in February, up 19 created a home for quality journal- successful business and not just with it looked for someone to handle its publishers would be swallowed up by percent year-over-year, powered by ism at The Awl, and became one of a The Awl but the entire Awl network.” platform relationships, it hired Si- platforms. Sicha encouraged writers its much-vaunted content pub- number of journalists who consider Sicha nods. "I think Melissa likes cha, co-founder of The Awl Network. to write what they want, news cycle lishing system, Chorus. Sicha now him something of an advisor. to introduce a certain amount of Sicha might seem like an unlikely be damned. Its staff of about a dozen reports to Bell, who left The Wash- “We care about brands at this chaos to the system,” he says. He choice. The Awl Network is an eccen- operates out of two rooms. Sicha is ington Post to co-found Vox.com. company,” she says. “And something and Bell spoke together on a recent tric company that goes against much charming and self-deprecating and The Awl did was set out to be that afternoon in one of Vox's conference I'M UNAFRAID of what of modern media is today: while The Awl demanded six-day EMBRACING CONFLICT anti-authoritarian brand for the rooms. “So one of the things I find OF GETTING FIRED. Let others try to growth-hack their workweeks, he conveys an image of As Bell saw it, The Awl Network’s internet. They came to be at a time here is I’m sitting in a room with a “ way to profitability; The Awl sells being above the fray, saying things contrarian sensibility made Sicha when there were a lot of content great diversity of people with diverse I LITERALLY itself on the exclusivity of its audi- like, “I haven’t had a real job before.” precisely the right person for Vox. farms on the web and chaos. He cre- opinions and experiences, and we’re DON'T CARE.” ence (comScore put flagship theAwl. At Vox, meanwhile, the mantra (Though the company hasn’t com- ated a brand that had a very strong getting unusual answers. And some- com at less than half a million unique is expansion. Part of a fast-grow- pletely eschewed off-site distribu- identity and kept that identity in times conflicting answers, which is visitors in February). ing, VC-backed class of publishing tion; it just migrated some of its sites a very smart way. But you almost exciting.”

48 49 WE CARE ABOUT BRANDS AT THIS COMPANY. AND “SOMETHING THE AWL DID WAS SET OUT TO BE THAT ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN BRAND FOR THE INTERNET.”

It also was important that Sicha is a went straight for literati appeal, pub- 2014, says Sicha's editorial back- journalist at heart, and he brings curi- lishing poetry, personal essays, and ground actually makes him well suit- osity and skepticism to the job, which yes, media criticism. Being self-fund- ed to the role of dealing with plat- is valuable at a time when publishers ed meant The Awl expanded to other forms. “These aren’t really content are figuring out where they stand in verticals slowly. Office snacks came if organizations," he says. "They’ve Bell approaches the platform know how to get back to my url or a platform-dominated world. And money wasn’t too tight. built the pipes. But ultimately the giants with an openness and opti- handle on a platform?” at Vox, which is trying to preserve a Sicha made for an unconven- pipes are only interesting in what mism; in each case, she considers But he believes platforms and culture of collaboration and trans- tional media executive. While other comes over them. He’s going to be the publisher's ability to make publishers have shared interests, parency even with a headcount of publishers prominently display able to influence what sort of stuff money there or expose its content too. “There’s not a lot of conflict 600, Sicha has the right personality, traffic numbers around their offices, comes over them.” to a new audience. Take Snapchat, between us and platforms,” he says. someone whose natural inclination Sicha once changed the Chartbeat where Vox.com has a dedicated “That is one of the things that sur- is to share information. (“Part of it is password without telling anyone, LOOKING OUT FOR EDITORIAL channel in the app’s publisher prised me. There’s a Venn diagram that I’m a reporter, part of it’s I’m a according to a 2015 profile on The If Sicha may not seem like the section, Discover. Bell tells of how where we overlap. gossip,” he says.) Sicha became the de Awl Network in Vox Media-owned most natural choice for his new role Kara Swisher of Recode, one of “So listen, I’m wary, I’m like inter- facto business head at The Awl Net- The Verge. In the profile, by Josh at Vox Media, publishers haven't Vox’s verticals, told Vox.com editor ested, but I’m also ambitious and work — someone had to do it — and he Dzieza, Sicha is quoted as saying that settled into a standard way of man- Ezra Klein that her son was a fan of eager to try things. So we’re always rejects the idea that the editorial side the idea of asking people about their aging their platform relationships. the channel. “We do feel like we’re game to try things, And we’ll notice should be closed off from knowing Facebook or Pinterest strategy “is Publishers are hiring platform am- reaching 14-year-olds on Snapchat when they don’t feel good," he says. how their business actually works. literally just something that no one bassadors to fill those roles, but the in a way that we wouldn’t have the “You’re a cynical optimist,” Bell “Static pods of people making things would ever say in this company be- role varies by publisher in terms of opportunity if we weren’t on Snap- says. is bad for product, bad for edit, bad cause, well, we just don’t care." (Sicha the person’s background and where chat," says Bell. “Yes...I like the aggressive spirit for business,” he says. insists he never read the piece.) they fit in the organization. Still, he's Sicha is friendly and open and here. I love an aggressive news- Deciding to come to Vox, with its a relative newbie; whereas other talks like he writes, with liberal room,” he says. 'UNAFRAID OF BEING FIRED' Midtown Manhattan offices and with outlets can at least draw on people use of exclamation points! On the “There’s an aggressive spirit Sicha, 44, got his writing all the trappings of corporate life who have years-long relationships subject of the platforms, he’s more across this company. Everybody start working at The Observer and (snacks!), surprised even Sicha. with platforms, Sicha is still meeting guarded. He sees them speaking questions,” Bell says. Gawker, where he helped estab- “I haven’t had a real job in so long,” some of them for the first time. a different language and having “People need to ask stuff out of lish the gossipy and conversational he says. “The great thing about At Vox, that role has until recent- slightly different values from pub- their department,” he says. “I want tone that's become familiar all over being me is, I’m unafraid about being ly fallen to Bell and other people. lishers. He shares the concern many people to think, like, what the heck the web. Then, in 2009, he, along fired. I literally don’t care. That frees Bell, for example, spearheaded do of how publishers will protect are we doing?” with Alex Balk and David Cho, me up. I’ll just move to California or Vox’s relationship with Google’s their brands when their content Time’s up: Sicha has to attend launched The Awl out of Sicha’s something and just start over. I can fast-loading article effort, Acceler- lives only in someone’s social feed. another meeting. “I have to see apartment when Sicha and Balk’s always go back to food service or ated Mobile Pages. But with not only “As an editorial person, I’m kind a partner that I love,” he says, no THE employer, Radar magazine fold- non-profits.” Still, he's made some Facebook and Google but Snapchat, of old-fashioned. I’m used to writing doubt with at least some degree of ed, leaving both out of a job. Sicha concessions to his new employer; he Pinterest and tons of messaging a bunch of words on the page,” he irony. INSIDER’S fondly calls the network a "weird now willingly signs NDAs when asked apps to contend with, Bell felt Vox says. “I recognize in myself things OUTSIDER animal." While other publishers were and forgoes jeans for khakis. needed someone to figure out where that scare me. So, how do I know obsessed with finding clickbait for- John Shankman, who was publish- the company should spend its time what that’s attached to when I see mulas and the next viral hit, The Awl er of The Awl Network from 2011 to and resources. it somewhere else? How do people

50 51 TAP TO LIKE

H The cover of Vogue's April G Vogue posted this photo, a behind-the-scenes edition, featur- shot of Isaac Mizrahi's studio taken by photogra- ing Rihanna. The Fashion is a top industry on pher Nick Waplington, to Instagram on April 10. magazine shared The Instagram. As bloggers emerge the cover on Instagram to with big followings — and brands announce the increasingly act like publishers upcoming issue. Instagram — magazines need to find a way to set themselves apart.

Effect BY HILARY MILNES

Instagram is a godsend for rate of 1 percent, according to Dash draw some of the highest likes and itative stance,” says Johnson. “Our to see growth on Instagram, even star, Beyoncé, to drive an Insta- fashion. But it comes with a cost: Hudson. comments for the magazine. Vogue Instagram community is incredibly if they have yet to hit Vogue-sized gram-only content series: A Beyon- It's hard to stand out amid a sea of “Vogue is synonymous with fash- directs Instagram followers to find important to us, and the conversa- numbers. Harper’s Bazaar’s Insta- cé “fakeover,” a countdown to the similar runway shots. Fashion mag- ion,” says Rittenhouse. “It does well those roundups through the link in tions happening on and around our gram following grew 143 percent issue's release with daily photos of azines like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar on Instagram because the demo- its bio, which takes readers to the posts are constantly contributing to year-over-year this April, hitting Beyoncé in the feed. and Elle are relying more on celeb- graphic on the platform, specifically “Vogue Instagram” landing page that our strategy moving forward.” close to 2 million followers. Its “We like to use content on Insta- rity-driven posts, exclusive content the younger set, doesn’t need to have houses all of the articles mentioned in Johnson says that Vogue looks to engagement rate on the platform gram that will spark a reaction and and material from their archives to ever picked up the magazine to know the feed. its audience reactions particularly is at .57 percent, according to the that also cultivates our brand on resonate on Instagram. the name.” when testing a new format on Ins- firm Dash Hudson. Elle maga- the platform," says Elle editorial di- “There’s a lot of potential for On Instagram, Vogue fills its feed Vogue.com’s social media director tagram. Recently, Vogue's creative zine grew 125 percent in 2015 to rector Leah Chernikoff. “Instagram fashion publications on Instagram, with celebrities; behind-the-scenes Ann Johnson says that the team’s digital director, Sally Singer, con- 1.5 million followers, and has an followers want you to live on the but they have to find the balance footage from old and new photo strategy on Instagram is to maintain ducted an in-depth interview with engagement rate of .54 percent. platform, so it was really important between being part of the com- shoots; and fashion news updates. its status in the fashion industry model Taylor Hill at Paris Fashion Both engagement rates are average that we did something native.” munity and being an authoritative Two recurring series on Vogue. while taking follower feedback into Week on Instagram, and based for the industry, while Vogue's, at “Making content that people voice, which is what sets them apart com, the top beauty and fashion consideration. on follower engagement, the Vogue 1 percent, is above average for its don't want to miss out on is key for from the bloggers and brands,” Instagrams of the week, repurpose “There’s a certain expectation for social team plans to replicate audience size. these publishers on Instagram,” says Mariana Rittenhouse, director popular celebrity Instagrams and the Vogue brand to offer an author- that interview style on Instagram “We think Instagram-first, not says Rittenhouse. "Creating content of brand strategy at Instagram in the future. Vogue launched @ how to repurpose our content there specifically for Instagram, with their analytics company Dash Hudson. VogueRunway (1 million followers) for other platforms,” says Harpers- editorial edge and reach, propels “Are you giving your audience what last August after its fashion show, Bazaar.com editor Joyann King, who them above the fashion brands and they want? That’s different than street style and breaking news added that the best-performing bloggers.” telling your audience [what they content attracted an active, niche content on Instagram is vintage should want], which is what fashion audience. photos from the Harper’s Bazaar magazines are used to.” “We’ve found an entirely new 150-year archive, as well as news-re- audience, and we treat it as such,” lated posts, although driving site STRIKE A POSE says Johnson. “There is an insatia- traffic is not what determines its Vogue magazine is the leading ble appetite for fashion week and Instagram strategy. fashion magazine on Instagram, street style content that would not For Elle, celebrity content has with 9.7 million followers on its main register with the majority of our seen the most engagement. A re- account alone (other top accounts in- Vogue followers.” cent highly liked Instagram post clude @BritishVogue, with 1.3 million was a photo of Kate Winslet and followers; and @VogueParis, with 1.6 E Celebrity-driven content is a big engagement driver for fashion publications THINKING INSTAGRAM FIRST Leonardo DiCaprio from the 2016 million), and an average engagement on Instagram. Elle shared this photo from its May cover shoot with Beyoncé. Other magazines are continuing Oscars. Elle also used its May cover

52 53 LISTEN

DIGIDAY BY CORY HAIK, UP CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, MIC The Rise of the Distributed Domain

he battle for audiences will be fought and won off these experiences are more performant, built specifically platform. for specific platforms and devices. This is generally a new Sort of. and creative space for publishers, but the monetization Facebook Instant, Apple News, Google News- and analytics pieces are still unfolding. This defines pure- stand, AMP, Snapchat Discover — these are all play distributed. important players in the game of reach. And there Facebook Instant is distributed, right? Again, this is the Tis no shame in wanting that reach. Journalism cannot have nuance. The truth is actually somewhere in between the an impact without a reader or a viewer. But there are impli- domain and distributed. While Facebook Instant content cations to growing an audience off platform. technically lives off-platform, it offers many of the same WTF Many have written doomsday scenarios around this, and pieces that referral traffic does. Not fully, but a ton more many of the points seem somewhat fair. There are merits than say, Snapchat Discover. To start, it offers comScore to both, and we will continue to debate this for some time. counting and monetization equal to that of web traffic on But to start, are we even speaking the same language? publisher’s X domain. And some control over content with- What is distributed officially? What’s on-platform? Never in the article. And even some extra features to play with. mind how we count it all or prioritize the players. There are some things lost, like the conversion funnel piec- is virtual reality? Strategy lies in the contours of many of these platforms. es that are very important to publishers who are looking Given that much of what we’re talking about is technical for subscribers. But Facebook is also pushing to open more and nuanced by implementation, the winners will be the tools for publishers to give them better levers. This marks ones who understand where the opportunities are and the rise of the Distributed Domain: something that sits in From science fiction to the marketer’s tool kit. build there quickly. between referral traffic and pure-play distributed. May 11, 2016 | New York, NY DISTRIBUTED SEMANTICS STRATEGIC OUTLOOK Google AMP is not a distributed platform. And it has At Mic, we’re looking at our goals for growth in two clear nothing really in common with Facebook Instant other categories: unique views and distributed. If we can count than the fact that it’s 1) mobile and 2) fast. AMP is based comScore and fully monetize a platform, as with Face- on a technology that’s been around for a long time: HTML, book's Instant Articles, it goes into the former. Until Apple written by your publisher. Google just gathered the indus- News has both, it would fall into the distributed domain. try to rally around a mobile standard to make it perform Publishers will likely see more of this distributed domain better. The traffic goes to your domain (sort of — there’s a category as platforms open up and work with publishers in digiday.com/events deeper tech piece around hosting that I will not get into). a more integrated way. But in general, it should fall in the traditional ‘referral Why does it matter? Because it’s the future. But aside traffic’ or ‘on-platform’ bucket. It’s owned and operated from that: Additive channels across the distributed content: You can optimize it in real time. You control the landscape are how digital players will grow big audiences. ad pieces, the edit, the funnel/levers. Let’s call this good ol’ Fully understanding how to count, optimize and ultimately domain and referral traffic. monetize these channels will be key. It is the early days, and Snapchat Discover is distributed in its full glory. It was the landscape will continue to shift. We are widely optimis- one of the first off-platform products that publishers tic, bullish even, that every single new platform offers an embraced as a vehicle not meant to drive traffic back to the opportunity to reach new users. We just want to make sure almighty domain. Kik, chatbots — they will likely all fall in we are accounting for each and every one of them in the this bucket. Messenger? Well, that’s to be seen. In general, best way possible across our business.

55 REALITY CHECK DIGIDAY Daily

BY BRIAN MORRISSEY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, DIGIDAY The Tide is Going Out MODERN MEDIA

he Onion, as usual, was publishers that will succeed won’t publications are finding that a large ahead of its time last May in be determined by whose comScore audience without a strong brand AND MARKETING. capturing the spirit of the number is bigger; the winners will be doesn’t mean much. Thanks to times. “Media Organiza- those with differentiated and mean- platforms, accumulating enormous tions Make Pilgrimage To ingful brands that can be monetized. reach figures hasn't been that hard. Facebook Headquarters To That last part is often missing In 2013, Fast Company breathlessly DELIVERED DAILY. TLay Content At Foot Of Mark Zuck- from the rush to platform distri- tagged Upworthy the “fastest-grow- erberg” read the headline. bution. Witness Mashable's pivot ing media company of all time” for This was brought to life a little to focus on video and BuzzFeed's generating 6.7 million unique visitors less than a year later. The eyes of struggles to meeting outsized in a half of year. Pshaw. In 2016, the publishing world turned to San expectations as its audience growth viral factory Little Things got to digiday.com/subscribe Francisco, to a developer’s confer- has shifted from its site to platforms 50 million in 18 months. Mastering ence of all things. At F8, Facebook it doesn't own. According to Recode, audience growth doesn't mean you'll executives held court like politicians, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti made make it, not these days. laying out their ambitious agendas his own pilgrimage to Facebook to And, of course, what algorithms for driving global change — and plead for a way to make money off give, algorithms can take away. along the way upending media. brand videos on Facebook. Publish- Publishers who built their audienc- The Facebook event, along with ers racking up huge video audiences es off flimsy audience connections the moves by publishers to embrace on Facebook are yet to be making facilitated through optimizing for so-called distributed content strat- any real money. algorithmic feeds are likely to find egies and video, underscored how Venture capitalists used to run these liaisons as lengthy as a Tinder many publishers have lost control for the hills when they encountered hookup. Maybe the money will follow of their strategies. What Facebook media business models. People don’t audience on platforms, but there wants, Facebook gets. It wants media scale. They’d prefer an algorithm. isn't yet solid evidence of that. to publish through Instant Articles But VCs caught the content bug, As Justin Smith, CEO of and use live video. Publishers are pouring big bucks not just into Buzz- Bloomberg Media, said at the Digi- scrambling to do just that. Facebook Feed, Vice and Business Insider, but day Publishing Summit, “the tide is is firmly in its Imperial Era. a raft of other publications looking going out.” We’ll soon find out which This is happening against the to spin up huge audiences and then publishers are wearing bathing suits backdrop of uncertainty in big-scale figure out how to make money later. — and which aren’t. digital media. The age of audience Later is now. Having a big audi- aggregation is coming to a close. The ence is not enough. In fact, many Follow us

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