- What is a Publisher?
- Publisher Categories
- Pulishers and the Online Advertising Value Chain
- Top 50 Online Publishers
A publisher is a website that earns its revenue through online advertising rather than through eCommerce. Publishers have an implicit agreement with their visitors whereby visitors agree to view online advertising in exchange for free access to content or services. With the boom in online advertising, proliferation of broadband, and increasing average time spent on the web, it's become easier than ever to make money as a publisher. Bloggers are nothing more than micro-publishers individually managing their own websites.
This has created intense competition for mindshare among online publishers, each clamoring to get a larger piece of the online advertising market. Today, the top 100 publishers effectively control over 90% of online advertising dollars. These web giants are able to charge premium CPM rates, and usually have their inventory sold out months in advance. Publishers on the long tail of the web face a completely different situation. They must find a way to differentiate themselves and extend their reach in an extremely crowded marketplace.
The online advertising boom has triggered a wave of innovation in the online publishing space. Startups invoking Web 2.0 themes of the "live web" and "the internet as a platform" have launched a number of community oriented services such as social networking (MySpace, Facebook), podcasting (RocketBoom), photo sharing (Flickr), video sharing (YouTube, Grouper), community-driven news (Digg) and even community-driven search (Wink).
Publisher Categories There are a wide range of publisher categories. The following are some of the most prevalent:
Portals
One of the oldest publisher categories, portals represent some of the most popular destinations on the Web. To secure their position as gateways to the Internet, portals such as Yahoo and MSN will bring together a variety of content including search, personalized news, and free email. Due to their recognizable brands, extensive reach and sophisticated targeting ability, portals tend to be very popular with online advertisers. They typically command higher CPM rates than other publishers, and tend to have their inventory sold out months in advance.
Leading Portals:
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The #1 most trafficked destination on the Internet. As of October 2005, more than 411 million unique users worldwide visit Yahoo! each month. More |
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Microsoft's old portal was the default homepage on Internet Explorer. Internal estimates put MSN's monthly unique audience at 400 million users. More |
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Microsoft's newly re-launched portal, to which it has committed to spend over $500 million. Offers a personalized homepage and advanced online features and applications. More |
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Less than one year after AOL relaunched its portal in 2005, advertising revenues are up 26 percent, and 107 million average monthly uniques visit the AOL network. More |
News & Information Websites
The Internet's value as a news and information resource has been apparent since the very beginning. These type of publishers tend to be attractive to online advertisers due their ability to segment content into various verticals (e.g. finance, entertainment) and the overall high quality of the content that they provide. Spending on online newspaper advertising alone jumped to $613 million in Q1 2006, up 34.9 percent over the same quarter last year, according to an NAA report.
Leading News & Information Websites:
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With more than 22 million average unique users per month, CNN.com is the leading online news destination. Tends to draw a more affluent audience. More |
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Free encyclopedia that was built and edited collaboratively by the online community through use of wiki software. Does not currently run any advertising. More |
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The Internet's leading movie website, with a database full of plot summaries, reviews, cast lists, and theatre schedules. Draws 38 million monthly visitors. More |
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Online edition of the newspaper's recent content, which requires free registration in order to view articles. More |
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Weather.com delivers weather-related information and news to over 27 million unique visitors a month, making it one of the most popular destinations on the Web. More |
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Technology news website that allows readers to submit stories for review and vote on which make the homepage. Raised $2.8 MM from Greylock, Omidyar Network. More |
Email is the number one internet activity for online consumers. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. on any given day about 52% of American internet users are sending and receiving email, up from 45% in June of 2004. They spent an average of 24 minutes on email, compared to only 3.5 minutes for search. Recently Nielsen/NetRatings reported that 35.1 percent of all display advertising impressions for January 2006 ran on email sites.
Top Email Websites:
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One of the most trafficked areas within Yahoo - received 22.3 percent of all display advertising impressions in January 2006. More |
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Microsoft added free email to its MSN property by acquiring Hotmail in 1997. MSN email accounted for 9.6 percent of all display advertising impressions in January 2006. More |
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Google launched Gmail, its own free email service, in 2004. The company uses its AdSense program to run contextually-targeting text ads alongside consumer's emails. More |
Search
Search is currently the number two Internet activity behind email, with an estimated 41% of the internet-using population using search engines on a typical day in 2005 (an increase of 55% over 2004). Advertisers love search due to it's ability to deliver relevant, targeted messages based on what a consumer has explicitly stated they are looking for. As the leading search engine worldwide, Google is able to deliver more relevant advertising through its AdWords program than any other medium. This is the reason that Google's $6 billion in 2005 revenue represented almost fifty percent of the overall online advertising market for that year.
Top Search Websites:
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Leading online search company, with an estimated 49% of all searches. 2.9 billion searches were completed on Google in March 2006. More |
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Has recently pushed to improve its search performance. Currently owns 22% of all searches. 1.3 billion searches were completed on Yahoo in March 2006. More |
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Although total searches increased to 643.8 million in March 2006, MSN's overall share of searches dropped to 11%. Moving aggresively into search with Microsoft Ad Center More |
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Currently has 8% share of all searches. Search results and contextual advertising provided by Google. More |
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Share of search: 6%. Fired the butler and rebranded simply as as Ask.com in February 2006. Launched major online and offline advertising campaign to increase it's search share. More |
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Video search engine that was acquired by AOL in January 2006 for an undisclosed amount. More |
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Leading blog search engine that allows consumers to keep track of what's happening in the blogosphere. Backed by DFJ and Mobius Venture Capital. More |
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Community-powered search engine that integrates Google search along with tags and submissions from users to deliver relevant results. Funded by Greylock Partners. More |
Social Networking
Social networking sites have exploded in popularity over the past couple of years, fueled by people's need to stay connected with friends, meet new people, and express themselves through their digital online identity. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, the top 10 social networking sites collectively grew 47% YTY, increasing from an unduplicated unique audience of 46.8 million in 2004 to 68.8 mln in April 2006, reaching 45% of active Web users.
However although some marketers have expressed interest in social networks as a marketing medium, most don't plan to use them in the next year. According to a recent Forrester Research Survey of around 250 online advertisers, only 13 percent reported using blogs or social networks in their marketing efforts, and 49 percent said they don't plan to do so during the next year.
The reason that media buyers and their clients have so far tended to avoid social networking sites is due to risk of a potentiallu unwelcome connection between racy or offensive content and the brand advertising running adjacent to it. In addition, the potential for criminal use on sites such as MySpace and the negative publicity that surrounds social networking in the media have also made potential advertisers wary of associating their brands these types of websites. More recently, niche social networking sites that are not exclusively geared towards a teenage audience, as well as invitation-only sites, have become more attractive to advertisers. Google and Nike, for example, have paired to form Joga.com, an invitation-only social networking site for soccer fans.
In order for advertisers to take advantage of the popularity of social networks, they will have to adapt their approach to the new format. Brands that have been most effective on social networking sites tend to create less formal and invasive advertising techniques that attract engage and interact with young users. For example Burger King partnered with MySpace and it's parent company News Corp. to offer free downloads of the first two episodes of "24" through Burger King's personal profile page on MySpace:
The real value of social networking sites may actually reside in the information they are able to gather on their users. Ross Levinsohn, President of Fox Interactive was quoted in MediaPost magazine as saying that the "digital gold inside of MySpace wasn't the number of users, but the information they're providing, structured and unstructured data - both demographic and psychographic - that FIM can use to figure out the brand preferences of young people on the web." The trick for advertisers and social networks is figuring out how to do that without creeping out their fickle teenage audiences.
Top Social Networks:
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Second largest website online, with over 80 million registered users, and a unique Apr '06 audience of 69 million. Parent Intermix bought by News Corp in July '05 for $580 MM. More |
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College focused social network that has rapidly grown into one of the most trafficked sites on the Internet. Raised $25 million from Accel & Greylock. More |
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Leading online business networking website with 6 million registered users. Uses online advertising as well as premium accounts. Backed by Sequoia & Greylock. More |
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Upcoming social network (2 million registered users) with a more structured approach and feature-rich interface than MySpace. Backed by DFJ. More |
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Recently surpassed MySpace in the UK, having already signed up nearly 25 million users worldwide. Raised $15 million from Benchmark Capital Europe in May 2005. More |
Blogging
Blogs have witnessed unprecendented growth over the past few years. As of April 2006, blog search engine Technorati now tracks over 35.3 million blogs. In its quarterly "State of the Blogosphere" report, the company estimates that on average, a new weblog is created every second of every day, which translates to over 75,000 new blogs created every day. Technorati also tracks about 1.2 million new blog posts per day, or about 50,000 per hour.
The power of blogs lies in the tendency of bloggers to link to each other and invite the feedback of their readers, whose opinions and feedback are posted to each blog post. This has given rise to a new online medium commonly referred to as the "blogosphere", which has enabled the rapid dissemenation of information across the web. Some regard blogging as a means of getting around the "filter" of the mass media and pushing stories directly to consumers. Technorati estimates that the blogosphere is doubling in size every six months and is now 60 times larger than it was three years ago. Some bloggers have gained enormous influence in the areas that they write about, sometimes eclipsing the traffic of more established mainstream media sites. For example renowned Business 2.0 writer Om Malik's personal blog Gigaom recently surpassed the Business 2.0 website in terms of reach and traffic.
Most Popular Blogs:
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A weblog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies, Boing Boing is the most popular blog in the world, as ranked by Technorati.com. More |
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Weblog with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics. Part of the Weblogs, Inc. network, bought by AOL for $30MM More |
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Political weblog which currently receives around 20 million unique visitors per month. More |
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Weblog dedicated to everything related to gadgets, gizmos, and cutting-edge consumer electronics. Part of the Gawker Media network. More |
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Dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new web 2.0 products and companies. More |
Top 5 Blogging Platforms:
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Largest blogging service on the web, with over 18.5 million unique visitors in April 2006 (an 80% increase over 2005). Acquired by Google in 2003 for an undisclosed amount. More |
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Microsoft's blogging platform grew 286% from 2004 to 2005, reaching just over 7 million unique users. Announced upcoming launch of Windows Live Spaces. More |
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Owned by Six Apart (Movable Type, LiveJournal). Had 6.7 million unique visitors in Apr '06. Raised a $12 MM Series C from August Cap., Focus Ventures & Intel in Mar '06. More |
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A community of online diaries and journals, with over 6.5 million unique visitors in April 2006. Grew 26% from 2004 to 2005. More |
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Web site and online community built around personal journals. Acquired by Six Apart in January 2005 for an undisclosed amount. More |
Podcasting
Podcasting is the online syndication of content programs through RSS data feeds. A true podcast takes the form of an onine series of episodes that consumers subscribe to, but the term is also used to describe downloads or streaming of individual episodes from a company's website. Most podcasts are audio, but video podcasts are gaining popularity now that there are portable devices and software to support them. Once the domain of independent artists and producers who saw the medium as an opportunity to get their voice out, podcasts are now being produced and distributed by large media companies including CBS, MTV, Clear Channel Communications, and Walt Disney.
Consumers today can find podcasts from a variety of locations. Most content creators make their podcasts available for download from their individual websites. Large media companies have begun creating podcast destinations where consumers can download and subscribe to their favorite shows. For example in September 2005 CBS announced that it will provide audiences with downloadable podcasts of CBS TV and online programs through what it is calling CBS NetcastPodcast. "Podcasting has become one of the fastest growing programming and promotional tools in media today, and with this dedicated site we plan to be part of this new medium in a big way," according to Larry Kramer, president of CBS Digital Media. Finally podcast networks have emerged that aggregate podcasts into a single destination that consumers can use to find and manage podcasts.
Top Podcasting Networks:
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Apple's iTunes Podcast Directory registered one million podcast subscriptions two days after it was launched in Aug '05. Today it registers over 7 million subscriptions. More |
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One of the largest collections of podcasts on the web, with features including podcast search, podcast streaming, downloading and subscriptions. More |
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A leading independent podcast aggregator, backed by $10MM from Kleiner Perkins & Sequoia Capital. Acquired podcast directory Podcast Alley. More |
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Focus on podcasting as a way for corporations to increase their branding efforts and reach new audiences. Raised $5.5 million from Venrock Associates and USVP in Mar '06. More |
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Startup focused on podcast aggregation and subscriptions. Currently offer over 1 million audio files that users can stream, download or subscribe to via the Odeo Player. More |
Video
Online video usage has exploded over the past few months, driven by increasing broadband adoption rates and the proliferation of video sites. Most of the large media companies, including ABC, AOL, and CBS have already launched video destinations. While some allow consumers to stream or download their favorite shows, others function as full broadband video channels. In addition, a swarm of startups have recently entered the market recently attempting to capitalize on the boom in user-generated content by giving consumers a place to upload, share and view their videos online.
Leading Video Sites:
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Dominant online video sharing site with 43% market share and 30 million videos served per day. Received $11.5 million in funding from Sequoia. More |
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Popular social networking site launched its own video service in January 2006. Currently in 2nd place with 24% market share. More |
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Yahoo's video site, launched in March 2006, currently has a 9% share of video traffic. More |
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Google launched its video service at CES in January 2006 to lackluster reviews. With a 9% share, it has failed to capture the video market. More |
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Rapidly growing video sharing startup. In May the company surpassed 8 million unique visitors per month, who together viewed approximately 50 million pages. More |
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CBS launched InnerTube in May 2006. Ad-supported broadband channel of original Web content, companion shows to CBS' TV shows, and rebroadcasts of past TV fare. More |
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AOL powered online video destination, offering vintage shows and short clips supported by online advertising. More |
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One True Media offers video creation tools targeting the mother-baby community. Raised $5 million from Kleiner Perkins in June, 2006.More |
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Daily video blog, or vlog, that covers a wide range of information from top news stories to quirky internet culture. Reaches 250,000 daily visitors. More |
Photo Storage/Sharing
Publishers that offer ad-supported photo storage and sharing solutions have been increasing in popularity lately, driven in large part by the widespread use of digital cameras. Although online photo management sites such as Shutterfly, Ofoto and Snapfish have been around since the late 90's, a new crop of photo sharing websites has emerged over the past couple of years. The new entrants have developed more Web 2.0-centric services that allow for photo tagging and sharing on a website that more closely resembles a social network than an online photo album.
Photo storage and sharing websites are able to run standard as well as rich media ads, and tend to get a lot of page views per unique visitor due to the nature of their sites.
Leading Photo Sites:
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The leading photo social networking site, and standard-bearer for the Web 2.0 community. Acquired by Yahoo in March 2005 for an undisclosed sum. More |
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Free image hosting services. Users post images on social networks, auction sites, blogs, and message boards. Raised $10.5 MM from Trinity Ventures. More |
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Online editing tool that allows user to create a visual stream of photos that can be shared or hosted on other websites and blogs. More |
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Photocasting network that allows users to share and broadcast photos through subscriptions. Funded by ComVentures & Garage Technology Ventures.More |
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Music Streaming
Online music streaming has begun gaining momentum, with several new publishers adding some community-oriented twists to the standard internet radio story. According to a May 2006 study by Arbitron/Edison Media, the weekly internet radio audience has increased 50 percent over the past year. Today 12 percent of Americans over the age of 12 report having listened to internet radio in the week prior to having been asked.
Music streaming publishers can take advantage of the audio format to display audio and even video advertising to their audience. Although both are still small markets today, they are expected to experience strong growth over the next few years.
Leading Music Streming Sites:
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In April 2006 Napster switched to a free, ad supported model to lure more subscribers. New system allows users to stream each song up to five times. More |
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Comprehensive music analysis collects hundreds of musical details on each song in order to help users discover new music they might like. More |
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Community-driven music streaming and recommendation service. Matches users with similar musical preferences to create meaningful musical recommendations.More |
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Gaming
Gaming has long been one of the most popular pastimes on the web. Online gaming publishers are able to monetize their websites through a variety of advertising methods, including rich media and video advertising. They also have the opportunity to capitalize on the growing trend in advergaming, allowing users to interact with advertisers' brand in a gaming environment.
The rise of multi-player online games such as World of Warcraft and virtual role-playing games such as Linden Lab's Second Life also point to great potential for in-game advertising by gaming publisher.
Leading Gaming Sites:
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Created by Linden Labs, massive multiplayer online game has 165,000 residents and a US$60mm yearly economy. Funded by Benchmark Capital, Globespan Capital. More |
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Leading casual gaming destination online, providing games such as chess, mah-jong, pool and spades. Hosts over 100,000 players online at a given time. More |
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Leading cash-based casual gaming publisher, offering users the chance to win prizes through lottery drawings. Acquired by EA in 2001.More |
Publishers and the Online Advertising Value Chain
Much like ad networks, publishers have two sets of customers - their advertisers and their audience. A publisher's website is the connection point for advertisers and consumers, and a publisher's livelihood depends on its ability to serve up the right ad at the right time. In general publishers have three overarching goals: 1. To provide value for their audience in order to develop a high level of engagement and encourage repeat visits. 2. To extend their reach by growing the number of unique users and page views that their website generates. 3. To maximize their eCPM by selling the maximum number of impressions at the highest CPM-rate possible. Overall publishers have very little brand loyalty, typically rotating advertising tags from a number of advertisers and ad networks. Any ad network that can offer publishers a consistently higher eCPM along with a good fill rate will be flooded with requests to join their network.
Within the online advertising value chain, advertisers, agencies, lead generators and ad networks can all work with publishers directly. The larger the publisher, the more likely it is that advertisers & agencies will approach them directly. Given the number of publishers on the web, it is apparent that there exists a long tail of publishers that rely on ad networks such as Google AdSense and ValueClick to monetize their traffic.
Top 50 Online Publishers
| Website |
| 1. Yahoo! |
| 2. Google |
| 3. MySpace |
| 4. Microsoft Network (MSN) |
| 5. EBay |
| 6. Amazon.com |
| 7. Craigslist.org |
| 8. CNN - Cable News Network |
| 9. Go |
| 10. Live.com |
| 11. Wikipedia |
| 12. Blogger.com |
| 13. AOL |
| 14. Microsoft Corporation |
| 15. Passport.net |
| 16. Comcast.net |
| 17. Thefacebook |
| 18. The Internet Movie Database |
| 19. YouTube |
| 20. The New York Times |
| 21. MapQuest |
| 22. Weather.com |
| 23. Flickr |
| 24. About |
| 25. CNET.com |
| 26. Bank of America |
| 27. Apple Computer, Inc. |
| 28. BBC Newsline Ticker |
| 29. EarthLink, Inc. |
| 30. Dell Computers Online |
| 31. Adult Friendfinder |
| 32. LiveJournal.com |
| 33. Netflix |
| 34. Monster.com |
| 35. Digg |
| 36. Match.com |
| 37. Photobucket |
| 38. UPS |
| 39. Major League Baseball |
| 40. United States Postal Service (USPS) |
| 41. FatWallet.com |
| 42. Target |
| 43. StatCounter.com |
| 44. Washington Post |
| 45. Reference.com |
| 46. My Way |
| 47. Expedia.com |
| 48. Slashdot |
| 49. Yahoo! Search Marketing Solutions |
| 50. CareerBuilder.com |