In today’s increasingly fragmented media landscape, publishers with high-quality, journalistic content can only survive by protecting their inventory and user data. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that scarcer inventory begets better rates. Over the past several years, many exchanges and supply-side platforms emerged with their own solutions to help premium publishers capitalize on their unsold inventory. They promised premium publishers increased CPMs across tier-two inventory, while also harboring their inventory and user data in a protected environment and preventing leakage of these valuable assets across the web.

(Reuters) – As more newspapers cut back on print to reduce costs and focus on their websites, a troubling trend has emerged: online advertising sales are stalling. In the first quarter, digital advertising revenue at newspapers rose just 1 percent from a year ago, the fifth consecutive quarter that growth has declined, according to the Newspaper Association of America, a trade organization. 

Digital is evolving with the progression of new screens, devices, and technologies. When Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution, he coined the phrase “survival of the fittest.” In this competitive, digital media environment, evolution is best described by the phrase “survival of those who execute best.”

“What helps people, helps business.” ~ Leo Burnett The bottom line is that the vast majority of your potential consumers are not waiting around for your next brilliant sales email. They are not tapping their foot waiting for your cold call. They are online, searching for products and services that matter most to them. As a marketing professional, you can drive change within your organization and redirect your resources to create inspiring and amazing inbound marketing campaigns, as well as beautiful brands.

Publishers are currently facing challenges with the current ad exchange ecosystem, primarily due to data leakage. We recently shared our thoughts on how to alleviate this uncertainty by protecting publisher audience data, which can sometimes be bought and sold by exchanges without publisher consent.