‘Race to the bottom’: Top publishing execs sound off on the biggest challenges in the industry
• May 2, 2019 •
At the Digiday Publishing Summit last month, hundreds of industry leaders gathered to discuss building products to monetize audiences, sifting through data and incorporating insights. Here’s a quick look at five major takeaways from our most recent summit. The key hits:
- Publishers that are focused on the top line are depressing the entire business.
- To create effective subscription products, you have to constantly test, learn and iterate.
- Apple News+ puts publishers in the position of becoming production houses, and they lose their connection with the consumer.
- When trying to scale an events business, the key is partnerships.
More in Media
From brand deals to equity deals: creators want a stake, not just a fee
September 24, 2026
The creator economy is moving into a new phase: creators getting into companies at the ground floor through sweat equity or angel investing.
Media Briefing: Publishers question whether personalization actually pays off
September 24, 2026
Publishers are personalizing newsletters to get more value from readers, but questions remain over whether it’s a meaningful differentiator.
Publishers’ scorecard on Google’s ad tech remedies: they’re progress, but far from a clean win
September 23, 2026
After years of waiting for the DOJ to finally curb Google’s ad tech power, publishers are finding the devil in these new remedies.