Digiday Research: 70 percent of publishers say they personalize content
This research is based on unique data collected from our proprietary audience of publisher, agency, brand and tech insiders. It’s available to Digiday+ members. More from the series →
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.
More in Media
Why some publishers aren’t ready to monetize generative AI chatbots with ads yet
Monetization of generative AI chatbot experiences is slow going. Some publishing execs said they’re not ready to add advertising to these products until they scale or can build a subscription model first.
Media Briefing: Publishers who bet on events and franchises this year are reaping the rewards
Tentpole events and franchises are helping publishers lock in advertising revenue.
With Firefly Image 3, Adobe aims to integrate more AI tools for various apps
New tools let people make images in seconds, create image backgrounds, replacing parts of an image and use reference images to create with AI.