Ask the Expert: A publisher perspective with the AOP

Welcome to our latest episode of “Ask the Expert,” where we delve into the dynamic world of online publishing with Experian’s Danny Holmes and Richard Reeves, CEO of the Association of Online Publishers (AOP).

AOP News

Voice of the Premium Publisher: Spotlight On… Jo Holdaway

Few people in the publishing industry have as storied a career as Jo Holdaway. From her early days in print magazines through the digital transition to becoming Chief Data and Marketing Officer at The Independent, Holdaway has been on the frontlines of change — often leading the charge herself.

AOP News

Voice of the Premium Publisher: Spotlight On… Dr Rebecca Whittington

Female journalists face harassment and threats, both online and in the real world, at an alarming rate. This abuse is often shrugged off as “part of the job”, but Dr Rebecca Whittington, Online Safety Editor at Reach, has dedicated her career to proving otherwise. Her ‘Stop the Cycle’ campaign tackles the gendered abuse of journalists through demanding better reporting and support from the police.

AOP News

The publisher’s guide to Demand Path Optimisation

We’re delighted to announce that we’re partnering with Content Ignite to explore one of the biggest opportunities that many digital publishers are letting slip through their fingers: demand path optimisation. In the light of Google’s announcement that they’re repealing their cookie deprecation plans, it’s more important than ever that publishers ensure they have the tools needed to navigate the future of the digital publishing industry.

Publishers react to Meta’s ‘substitutable’ news claim

Meta has said it sees news as “substitutable” on its platforms in a federal parliament inquiry in Australia. AOP Managing Director, Richard Reeves, recently shared his opinion with The Media Leader... “I would argue that where a media outlet or social platform commands so much attention from such a broad and diverse audience[,] it has a societal responsibility to ensure that it provides access to balanced and reliable news sources."

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Is your team ready for the technology of the future?

Technology is evolving rapidly, and it likely isn’t an overstatement to suggest that the workplace in ten years’ time will look radically different. At last month’s AOP CRUNCH: AI-volution and the opportunities for digital publishers, it was clear that regardless as to whether you thought AI was a saviour or a destroyer, now is the time to lean in. Experimenting now is the key to remaining ahead of the curve and also to playing a foundational role in shaping how these technologies develop.

AOP News | Awards News

AOP Announces Winners of the Digital Publishing Awards 2024

The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) celebrated its 22nd Awards yesterday, honouring the digital publishing industry’s top talent at the in-person ceremony, held at Old Billingsgate in London.

AOP News | Awards News

AOP announces shortlist for 2024 Digital Publishing Awards

The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) has today announced the shortlist for the 2024 Digital Publishing Awards. The awards celebrate the individuals and teams working to create, deliver and monetise quality content online.

AOP News

Voice of the Premium Publisher: Spotlight On… Ian Dowds & James Oates

In the first of our new “Spotlight On…” series — where we shine a spotlight on pertinent industry issues and speak to those in the know — Richard Reeves caught up with Ian Dowds, CEO of UKOM, and James Oates, Head of Ipsos iris, to talk about governance in audience measurement, the need for data transparency, and the risks of an industry that has become too trusting of platform-provided insights.

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Breaking down barriers: Five ideas for more inclusive digital publishing

More content is being consumed digitally than ever before – but how inclusive is the digital publishing sector? We reached out to our Associate partners to get their perspective on what single, impactful step digital publishers could take to ensure that ED&I is baked into their organisation and to support the development of a more inclusive industry.

AOP News

Letter to IAB and AOP regarding cookie compliance practices

Alongside IAB, AOP have been leading conversations with ICO regarding compliance with data protection law in relation to advertising cookies. Following these consultations, we’re delighted to share that ICO have published their response to deliver a greater degree of certainty around the adoption of alternate models, intended to help guide publisher investment and strategic compliance decisions.

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Thirteen steps in your journey to revenue diversification

To understand how digital publishers can take advantage of this tumultuous environment, we asked our Associate partners what they saw as the key to success when it came to developing new revenue streams. Here are thirteen ideas to help you adopt an innovative, entrepreneurial spirit and uncover new opportunities to open new avenues for revenue.

AOP News | Ask the Associates

The science behind crafting sticky content that engages your audience

In an age where consumers have a wealth of media competing for their attention, you need your content to be ‘sticky’: to catch the audience’s attention, to engage their interest, to encourage them to return to your content time and again. But what can digital publishers practically do to increase the stickiness of their content? Eleven of our Associate Members shared their top tips to help you deliver the maximum return on your work.

AOP News

Defining the future of digital publishing - Take part in our survey

The digital publishing industry is at the cutting edge of technological change, and we want to understand how your strategic priorities are evolving as a result of new technologies, enhanced advertiser requirements, and broader societal change.

AOP News

Reasons to be cheerful: Four areas digital publishing is positively thriving

As we find ourselves nearing the end of 2023, AOP MD Richard Reeves takes a moment to reflect on the brilliant work undertaken by our community of digital publishers to build a more resilient, collaborative, and valuable industry.

AOP News

Publicis Media and top UK publishers announce test of innovative privacy-enhancing cookieless technology

Publicis Media and the UK Association of Online Publishers (AOP) have announced today that they will conduct a large-scale test of Anonymised — a new privacy-enhancing technology (PET) for cookieless targeting and measurement.

AOP News

Bloated creatives are hitting publishers’ bottom line and third-party tags are to blame

Publishers have leapt from the frying pan of unauthorised data scraping into the fire of bloated creative sizes. AOP’s Managing Director, Richard Reeves, unpacks findings from an investigation by an AOP member and the harmful consequences of inflated creatives that often exceed IAB standards.

Responsible journalism. Good for society, good for your brand

In a world where multiple content providers, both reputable and untrustworthy, are vying for advertising budgets, the need for the media industry to actively support responsible journalism has never been greater. Our MD, Richard Reeves, joins industry experts to share his thoughts on what publishers can be doing and how delivering good for society delivers for your brand as well.

Podcast: What next for digital publishing?

What does the future of digital publishing, and in particular, digital news publishing, look like? Our MD Richard Reeves, and Raymond Snoddy, the former presenter of BBC News Channel’s NewsWatch and a longtime columnist for The Media Leader, joined The MediaLeader podcast to discuss.

AOP News | Ask the Associates

A publisher’s guide to engaging members

Every publisher is trying to move their users along the engagement funnel - from those who stumble across your post online, to your casual users who dip in and out of content, to your super users who are most likely to invest in a subscription or membership. However, once you’ve got people into that super user group, what does it take to keep them there? How can publishers make sure they’re delivering value to their most engaged users?

AOP News | Ask the Publishers

Expert digital publishers share best practice for collaborative data matching

Five leading digital publishers shared their insight with us on what they saw as the opportunities that such collaboration created for publishers and advertisers alike, and the potential pitfalls that advertisers should be watching out for.

AOP News

We need agency and advertiser allies in our battle against publisher IP theft

In the weeks since we called out the unacceptable theft of publisher IP in our Open Letter, we’ve been heartened by the whirlwind of press coverage and discussion spurred. Now we need to keep up the momentum, which means unifying our voices to stamp out this practice for good. However, there’s one group from which I’d welcome more input — the very people the letter was addressed to: agencies and advertisers.

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Nine tips to help you navigate the social platform disruption

Hardly a day goes by when one social platform or another doesn’t make news. Twitter is facing a steep slump in ad revenues following a mammoth erosion of advertiser trust. The USA is currently considering legislation to block TikTok, whilst the UK and Australia have recently banned the app from government devices. As users flock to other apps, new platforms are rapidly emerging, but whether they’ll have any staying power remains to be seen.

AOP News

Calling time on publisher IP theft: an open letter to advertisers and agencies

Sustaining a healthy digital media ecosystem means ensuring equal value for all participants. While better recognition of consumers as data owners has driven vital changes in privacy regulation and cemented a consent-based online value exchange, failure to protect publisher data is still putting future stability at risk.

AOP News | Ask the Publishers

Five ideas to enhance your branded content

Consumers are increasingly becoming ad blind. Most of us skip pre-roll adverts as soon as we get the chance, and while the global average CTR for banner ads is disputed, it’s generally agreed to be well under 0.5%. Advertisers are increasingly seeking ways to engage authentically with their audiences in seamless, non-intrusive manners that inform, entertain or inspire. Branded content provides the buy-side with the opportunity to meet those objectives and tap into a treasure trove of first-party data. But how can you make sure that a publisher-advertiser partnership delivers the maximum value for all parties?

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Five opportunities you might be missing to free up resources in your team

Many digital publishers are finding themselves challenged to do more with less. And the most valuable resource, time, is always in short supply. So how can you free up more resources and time to allow your team to dedicate their efforts to developing new product or revenue opportunities? Six of our Associate partners shared where they thought you could automate processes to be more effective with your resources.

AOP News

ISBA’s second study of programmatic supply chain finds significant increases in match rate and reduction of unattributable spend

The second Programmatic Supply Chain Transparency Study from ISBA and PwC, with support of the AOP and IAB, has found positive and welcome improvements. Greater standardisation of data quality has improved the ad impression match rate to 58% (vs 12% in 2020) and the proportion of advertiser spend reaching publishers has risen by 8%.

AOP News | Ask the Associates

How to streamline your digital publishing business in response to an uncertain economic climate

If you’re predicting a tightening of purses or a squeeze on your resources and bandwidth, then you’re not alone. We’ve collected a selection of helpful tips and ideas to help digital publishers streamline strategies, identify new avenues for innovation, and ensure they’re putting their best foot forward in 2023.

AOP News

AOP CEO Richard Reeves on how publishers are addressing diversity and inclusion

On this week’s episode of Media Voices Richard Reeves, CEO of the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) here in the UK, talks to us about the issues and roadblocks surrounding diversity and inclusion efforts in media. He discussed initiatives publishers are using to improve DE&I, problems of retention, and how ageism impacts women particularly.

AOP News

AOP announces strategic partnerships to support publishers’ ESG efforts

As we continue to support the digital publishing community's ESG efforts, we’re delighted to announce partnerships with both GetZeN & Right Thing Media. GetZeN’s ‘How Are You?’ wellness programme will now be available to AOP Publisher members at a discounted rate, helping them to improve staff wellbeing, morale and productivity. Meanwhile, we’ve been working alongside Right Thing Media on two pioneering pieces of work: an ESG framework and an ESG publisher charter. Both of these initiatives aim to improve cross-industry collaboration around ESG efforts. 

AOP News | Ask the Publishers

Navigating the permacrisis through quality journalism

2022 saw Russia invading Ukraine, Elon Musk purchasing Twitter, a global cost of living crisis, and Donald Trump announcing his intention to run for President of the USA. Against a backdrop of seemingly perpetual uncertainties, quality news publishers play an important role in continuing to inform and educate their audiences.

AOP News

Publishers are fighting back against programmatic’s parasitic ad tech intermediaries

In today’s privacy-first digital ecosystem, publishers are seeking more direct relationships with advertisers, other publishers, and their technology partners. This is typically framed as an effort from publishers to rightly maximise the value of their first-party data and bolster their position at the bargaining table. Both are true, of course, but publishers are also taking greater control of the supply chain to prevent their intellectual property from being stolen.

Win a £100 Amazon voucher by sharing your thoughts on the digital publishing industry

The digital publishing industry is developing at breakneck speed in response to changes in technology, advertiser requirements, and societal change. And as we face growing predictions of recession, the AOP is keen to understand how digital publishers are adapting and preparing their strategies to support their businesses in 2023. We would be very grateful if you would just take a few minutes to take part in this short survey which is designed to build a picture of how publishers and the tech companies working with them are evolving product, editorial, sales and business strategies to build successful growth.

3rd Party Cookies Technology Solutions Initiative

In response to publishers needing more clarity on the alternative options available for 3rd party cookies the AOP have put together a page that details the different technology providers and the solutions that they offer.

AOP News

3rd Party Cookies Technology Solutions Initiative

In response to publishers needing more clarity on the alternative options available for 3rd party cookies the AOP have put together a page that details the different technology providers and the solutions that they offer.

AOP News

EX.CO Partners with ID5 to Increase Privacy-Compliant Addressability for Advertisers and Grow Value of Publisher Inventory

MD Richard Reeves answered Press Gazette’s questions about the future of advertising and publishing. Read the full interview to understand how the digital publishing industry is responding to new challenges and why data and readers providing informed consent is set to become a key issue.

AOP News

AOP Publishing Tech Talk: Key insights on metrics, experience, privacy, and revenues

The Association of Online Publishers’ (AOP) annual Publishing Tech Talk provides publishers with an annual forum to catch up with the latest technologies and innovations used to grow audiences, increase revenues, and empower content creation.

AOP News

The Six Sells Podcast

Our Managing Director, Richard Reeves, joined The Six Sells Podcast this week to talk all things digital publishing, including the biggest challenges facing UK publishers, new approaches to measuring attention, supply chain optimisation, and impact caused by the rise of audio advertising.

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Six revenue opportunities you could be missing

The pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of relying too heavily on a single revenue stream. And as we adjust to an increasingly cookieless world and to the rise of new formats for audiences to engage with, there are a wealth of opportunities for digital publishers to diversify their revenues. But what could you be missing?

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Five approaches to developing more intelligent metrics

What can publishers do to maximise their strategies and ensure that all parties get the experience they need? Here are seven tips from our panel of expert Associates to help you develop a seamless advertising experience.

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Ten paths to regaining control of the identity narrative

As the industry shifts to accommodate data privacy regulations and the demise of third-party cookies, advertisers are increasingly looking for reliable ways to connect and engage with their primary audiences, opening the door for publishers with detailed understanding of their audiences to take a more prominent role within the ecosystem. Discover ten top tips to help you leverage the strength of your quality publishing environment in the new world of privacy and identity

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Nine steps for creating a positive advertising environment

What can publishers do to maximise their strategies and ensure that all parties get the experience they need? Here are nine tips from our panel of expert Associates to help you develop a seamless advertising experience.

AOP News

Three technological trends re-shaping digital publishing

The scale of growth in the digital world is almost beyond comprehension, and there is a constant steam of new technologies launched to market, each promising to be the holy grail you need to solve your challenges. So what has the stickiness to actually make a real impact in our industry? Before the discussions at AOP Publishing Tech Talk next week, industry experts share how new technology will reshape digital publishing over the next three years and what 2025 could hold for digital publishers. Read more here.

AOP News | Ask the Publishers

Here are six ideas to make sure you’re prepared for the demise of cookies

The impending demise of cookies will alter the face of marketing forever. As it stands, cookies underpin a core element of advertising strategy: tracking and targeting individual users across the internet to ensure you’re reaching your desired audience. Now, Google announced in late July that they wouldn’t be axing cookies from Google Chrome until 2024, giving the advertising industry some breathing space to continue putting alternate identity solutions through their paces.

AOP News

Publishers share five top tips to integrate technology more intelligently in your organisation

Technology evolves rapidly – faster, perhaps, than digital publishers can incorporate new solutions into their tech stacks. It takes a certain amount of time to identify which new providers are offering a long-tail solution, evaluate the cost against the benefits, and start the process of integrating the tech into your organisation. By which time there may well be a shinier, newer solution promising to deliver above and beyond.

AOP News

Delays, Cookies, and Fraud: What Publishers Need to Know This Summer

Many of us may be unplugging for the summer, but industry news and developments roll on. From government and Google delays, to a growing fraud epidemic, here are three key stories of the season and what they mean for publishers.

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Here’s how to make e-commerce work for your publishing brand

E-commerce can be a huge revenue source for publishers if done correctly- but what’s the key to successfully leveraging e-commerce to grow your publishing brand? We reached out to four experts to get their top tips for integrating e-commerce into your revenue portfolio

AOP News

Should we call time on black tie?

There have been powerful discussions in the publishing industry on the importance of DE&I, but perhaps an awards dinner such as this is a prime example of how we still have some way to go in cultivating a truly diverse and inclusive environment. Should we call time on black tie?

AOP News | Awards News

AOP announces Winners of the Digital Publishing Awards 2022

– The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) celebrated the digital publishing industry’s top talent at its in-person awards ceremony held at Old Billingsgate in London, yesterday. AOP’s flagship event, now in its 20th year and organised in association with headline partner, PubMatic, was hosted by comedian Sophie Duker. The event showcased the individuals, teams and companies driving the successful growth of the online publishing sector. There were 26 category winners, judged by a panel of experts under the guidance of co-chairs, Amanda Barnes, Chief Executive of Faversham House, and Dominic Carter, Group Chief Commercial Officer of News UK.

AOP News

Industry-changing conversations: Four areas publishers should be aware of

In today’s tumultuous media environment, publishers need to pull together to find ways to safeguard revenue, nurture talent, and build a sustainable future. Richard Reeves talks about four areas publishers should be aware of and the discussions the AOP is facilitating with the wider industry.

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Four expert ideas on how to convert audience engagement to value

As a publisher, your audience is your most precious asset and continually engaging and re-engaging your readers, viewers, and listeners in your content is essential for success. But with big players in subscription content such as Netflix facing challenges, how can you make sure you’re hitting the right notes?

AOP News

AOP Partners with SeenThis to Reduce Website Data Usage by 65% and Lower Carbon Footprint

The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) has partnered with adaptive streaming technology company, SeenThis, to become the first trade body to stream images on its website and cut its internet carbon emissions, with the aim of encouraging digital publishers to explore and adopt similar solutions.

AOP News

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The challenging tide of digital misinformation doesn’t just flow one way. As well as causing real-world consequences, it can also be driven by global events. Richard Reeves talks about how these dual influences are being highlighted by the situation in Ukraine and what the digital publishing industry can do to tackle the growing challenge of misinformation.

AOP ROUND TABLE: Preparing for the future: Practical personalization strategies that turn passive users into active participants

Hosted by EX.CO 10 May, 2022 9.30am – 11am The Apartment at The Hoxton Hotel, Holborn The recent AOP ‘Meeting the Future’ report provides an optimistic view on how publishers are looking at their revenue diversification strategies moving forward. Product innovation, subscriptions, lead generation revenues, and emerging opportunities in e-commerce look set to become a major focus.

AOP News

Unprecedented UK Media Coalition Calls On PM To Act Swiftly To Save Media From Harmful Impact Of The Tech Platforms

As the government has introduced legislation via the Online Safety Bill to make the internet a safer place, the AOP are united with major media businesses across the UK in stressing the vital urgency of tackling the other side of the coin which will provide the Digital Market Unit the necessary statutory powers and underpin the new pro-competition regulatory regime.

AOP News | Ask the Associates

Twelve ideas to kickstart your product development strategy and drive new revenues

Publishers are putting the focus on product development as they look forward across the next 12 months, according to the latest Digital Publishers' Revenue Index - conducted by the AOP in association with Deloitte. But what do the experts think is the secret to product development that drives revenue for your organisation? Here are twelve ideas to help you revolutionise your product development for 2022 and beyond…

AOP News

Publishers must stop being led by technology, and start taking charge

In this month’s Voice of the Premium Publisher blog, Richard Reeves reviews some of the key findings of our Meeting the Future research report and provides updates on the AOP’s work around web crawlers and cross-industry discussions on financial audit transparency, data compliance, and Google’s Privacy Sandbox proposals – drawing the conclusion that publishers must stop being led by technology, and start taking charge.

AOP News | Cross-Industry Relationships

Cross Industry Programmatic Taskforce announces strategy to achieve financial audit transparency for programmatic advertising

The Cross Industry Programmatic Taskforce (the Taskforce), representing advertisers, publishers, ad tech vendors and agencies, has today released the first set of outputs to address the lack of transparency in the programmatic advertising supply chain.

AOP News

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The publishing landscape is becoming more and more complex, and for consumers, finding and recognising quality content from trusted sources is more challenging than ever.

AOP News

AOP Statement

A statement on the Government’s intention to introduce a 9pm watershed on TV advertising for HFSS products and a total ban on online advertising.

AOP News

ISBA Programmatic Supply Chain Transparency Study by PwC with the AOP

Following a year since the publication of the ISBA Programmatic Supply Chain Transparency Study, in association with the AOP and carried out by PwC, a Cross-industry Programmatic Taskforce has made significant progress in laying out a future roadmap, despite a challenging environment.

AOP News

The Changing Face of Gaming – Reach and Diversity in the Gaming Market

GameSpot commissioned a survey with the AOP exploring the breadth of gamers to bust the myth of targeting males 18-34.

AOP News

Update from the AOP: ICO Adtech Investigation – Awareness & Accountability

The AOP have been speaking with the ICO to understand how the ICO’s recent announcement in January will impact digital publishers across the UK.

AOP News | Awards News

AOP Announces Winners for the Digital Publishing Awards 2020

Incisive named Best Digital Publisher Company: B2B and News UK wins Best Digital Publishing Company: Consumer at AOP’s annual celebration of industry excellence, with a total of 26 winners receiving accolades on the night

AOP News

Is purpose beyond profit the answer to a healthier ad industry?

Before COVID-19, balancing purpose with profit was seen by many as an idealistic but unrealistic goal. Now attitudes are starting to change. Huge cultural upheaval is not only showing that long-established social and working norms can be reconfigured, but also driving consumer expectations of purposeful action.

AOP News

AOP announces shortlist for 2020 Digital Publishing Awards - Award ceremony goes virtual for the first time in its 18-year history

AOP and Deloitte data reveals digital publishing revenues fell in Q4 2019, despite an increase in subscriptions and sponsorship

AOP News

Time for change and transparency in programmatic advertising supply chain

A call for far-reaching reform of the programmatic advertising supply chain has been made today, with the publication of a groundbreaking study by the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA).

AOP News

Today the media industry’s trade bodies have joined forces to help support trusted news brands during this unprecedented Covid19 crisis

This article is supported by the Advertising Association, Society of Editors, ISBA, IPA, AOP, IAB, NMA and Newsworks.

AOP News

COVID-19 update from AOP

Following the recent advice given from the Government and Chief Medical Officer, we wish to inform you that our team are now working remotely, with normal functionality and naturally, we cannot maintain our usual face-to-face meetings. All AOP events and group meetings taking place in March 2020 will be postponed until further notice - we are currently exploring all options to provide alternative ways of maintaining the Group Meetings programme and, will be contacting the individuals concerned

AOP News

Chouieri selects JW Player for outstream video ad-serving

In-text video advertising to give publishers more flexibility and control.

AOP News

JW Player Taps Oracle Data Cloud to Provide Contextual Advertising, Brand-Safety Solutions

Integration Enables Brands to Place Relevant and Suitable Ads Using Oracle’s Contextual Intelligence Segments Across Publishers leveraging JW Player’s Video Platform.

AOP News

Content Verification Guide: How to implement a brand safe strategy

Creating a safe online environment for brands is in all of our interests and every part of the digital ad industry has a role to play in ensuring this.

AOP News | Awards News

AOP opens for entries for its annual Digital Publishing Awards

London, UK, 23 January 2020: The Association for Online Publishing has today announced that its Digital Publishing Awards are now open for entry, hosted in partnership with PubMatic, the automation solutions company.