Digiday Research: 70 percent of publishers say they personalize content
A survey of 200 publishers by Digiday this month found that most (70 percent) personalize the content they deliver to visitors. Once frowned upon by editors and consumers alike, the practice is becoming mainstream or publishers are now more willing to talk about it.
However, readers might not always be aware they are served different content than the person sitting next to them. Eight-four percent of publishers that do personalize content said they conduct passive personalization rather than active personalization. Passive personalization utilizes information like readers’ location or browsing history to tailor to the content they see, whereas readers self-select the content they wish to see more or less of in active personalization.
Over time, personalization is likely to become more popular among publishers. Half of publishers that do not currently personalize content said they are developing plans to do so
Costs, both technical and monetary, are holding publishers back from achieving personalization. Sixty-eight percent of companies that do not personalize content said they lack the technical expertise required and 58 percent were short of funding for such projects.
Fewer respondents choose not to tailor content for readers due to ethical qualms or potential sources of backlash according to the Digiday survey. Only a quarter of respondents not personalizing content said it ran counter to their editorial missions and just 14 percent were worried about potential pushback from editors.
.
“Overall, I’ve seen publishers worry about not sounding caught-up if they’re not doing some form of personalization,” said one anonymous publisher executive. “They think they’re being left behind.”
Part of why personalization has become so widespread among publishers is that it has become a catchall for a number of projects. Tailored content has evolved beyond algorithms customizing homepages and now includes everything from popular-articles widgets to newsletters constructed based on reader interests.
“We don’t hear about personalization from readers,” said Jason Jedlinski, svp of consumer products at Gannett. He pointed out to social platforms like Facebook and Twitter for changing readers expectations around personalization.
-
How publishers are handling the Juneteenth holiday this year
A number of publishers are observing Juneteenth this year, but not in the same way, with some making it an official holiday and others encouraging employees to use their PTO to take the day off.
-
Member ExclusiveMedia Briefing: How media companies’ DE&I efforts, office return statuses are affecting hiring
This week's Media Briefing looks at how issues like diversity, equity and inclusion and office return statuses are factoring into media companies' ability to hire people.
-
Cheat Sheet: How new antitrust bills could force more data access from Facebook and Google (and stop them from favoring their own services)
A set of bills proposed recently could force platforms to stop favoring their own services and give more data access and tech connectivity to others.
-
SponsoredIdentity solution fatigue is setting in: How to keep moving
By Kristina Prokop, CEO and co-founder, Eyeota As we move deeper into 2021, the desperate search for identity solutions that can smooth marketing organizations’ transitions to a cookieless world is reaching a fever pitch. There’s no shortage of new identifiers and identity technologies vying for attention — and that’s a big part of the problem. […]
-
Single-source panel measurement is key to optimizing social media planning, says DISQO report
New study is based on responses from 166,000 U.S. consumers in February and March, each of whom voluntarily allowed to have their digital behaviors observed.
-
BuzzFeed will finally monetarily reward its Community users for their viral quizzes, lists
BuzzFeed is testing to see if user-generated content could identify new areas of coverage for its staff, and bring in niche audiences, with a new summer program that could pay a contributor up to $10,000 for a viral post.
