for the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit, May 6-8 in Palm Springs.
There’s undeniably a supply and demand problem in digital media. Simulmedia CEO Dave Morgan told Digiday it would be what kept him awake if he was a publisher. In Ad Age Gene Hoffman goes a step farther. The CEO of subscription tech service Vindicia says that the digital media world is trapped in an unrelenting “race to the bottom” that will force niche publishers into tough choices and could spell the end of the mostly open Internet content world.
“This is the fundamental problem with the present-day advertising model,” he writes. “To build the necessary scalability to attract and retain advertisers who support the underlying business, online media companies have to forgo niches. These are the business imperatives for advertising-supported media businesses.”
Hoffman’s solution, naturally, is more subscription services, something his company happens to offer. Still, his point holds that the Internet content model is askew when a shining star like The Huffington Post comes by its success by publishing up to 1,000 pieces of content per day. Morgan recommends publishers take a page out of the book of Zynga with its multiple revenue streams — and the way a small percentage of its audience pays to support a much larger audience.
More in Media
Media Briefing: The ‘SaaS-pocalypse’ is spreading to publishers
As AI vibe-coding tools help publishers build their own software and products, the “SaaS-pocalypse” reshapes build-versus-buy decisions.
How college athlete Carson Roney went from TikTok dances to Gatorade commercials
Carson Roney went from TikTok star to commercial actor in just several years; we walk through her steps to success.
Forbes creates wine vertical, commerce shop and membership business as AI squeezes traffic
Forbes is launching a wine-focused vertical, commerce site and membership program to grow consumer revenue and offset declining traffic.