Only a few spots left to join us for the Digiday Publishing Summit

Join us Sept. 14-16 in Miami to connect with top publishing leaders

SECURE YOUR SEAT

WTF is cheap reach?

This article is a WTF explainer, in which we break down media and marketing’s most confusing terms. More from the series →

“Cheap” and “reach” are typically favored terms among advertisers. But taken together, they spell the next potential target for the digital ad industry to weed out.

“Cheap reach” refers to a subset of digital ad inventory that may be often overlooked — literally — and may be a necessary new taxonomy to prevent legitimate publishers from getting caught up in the crackdown on made-for-advertising sites. In the video below, Digiday media editor Kayleigh Barber helps to break down what cheap reach is, why this inventory category was created and why advertisers are not yet scrambling to excise it from their ad buys.

More in Media Buying

‘Frogs in the boiling water’: The Amazon-FTC case and the myth of ad auction transparency

The regulator accused Amazon of “deceptive and unfair practices,” but the e-commerce giant’s opaque auction dynamics aren’t all that unusual in today’s digital ad market.

Marketers face dilemma around rising bot and AI web traffic

Bot traffic is rising for e-commerce brands and interfering with retargeting strategies. But marketers are split on whether they should remain open to AI visitors or work harder to block.

Media Buying Briefing: Back-to-school brand spending on TikTok rises

Advertisers increased investment on TikTok, YouTube and search during summer months – but the back-to-school period is becoming a longer and more general sales period.