When Federated Media Publishing launched back in 2006, it was a pretty straightforward proposition. Founder and former Wired and Industry Standard publisher John Battelle saw an opportunity with the rise of independent Web content creators to represent them in an outsourced publishing function — and act as a filter for advertisers to find indie voices with real audiences.
It’s a smart move to realize that media buying is changing. Just repping small sites with a sales force isn’t a great business. After all, just note that FM’s alumni list — sites that ended up moving on from using its services — includes TechCrunch and Mashable.
More in Media
Digiday+ Research: How Dow Jones, Forbes, The Guardian and other publisher revenue streams are shifting in 2026
Digiday+ Research’s third annual report on publishers’ revenues examines the current and future state of the group’s revenue streams, from traditional ad revenue to events and subscriptions.
Publishers see double-digit growth from The Trade Desk’s OpenPath, but volatility remains
Several publishers said that TTD is temporarily allowing duplicate bids on those integrating with OpenAds, as a sweetener to ease onboarding. One publisher said it plans to accelerate integration with OpenAds, to capitalize on this “likely temporary window.”
Time pitches GEO insights into a new brand offering
Time is turning its AI insights into a new product, selling branded content to shape how brands are talked about inside AI-generated answers.