Mansfield describes the current digital ad landscape as concerning: "Sites are running in full auto mode. Give it a week and see what the numbers say. I suspect shockingly bad with barely any big bounce in revenues. But Mansfield says, "the real concern is how brand safety is actually working in reverse here and it's the ads that are the problem not the content."
Space Media Network has removed third-party ad networks entirely from SpaceWar.com, resulting in marked improvements in user experience and site speed. Feedback from users has been positive, affirming Mansfield's decision.
On SpaceDaily.com and all other sites we have taken advantage of the process of removing fixed an spots and set the advertising to a fully automated option offered by Google. I expect some bounce in the numbers but the CPC model has substantial transaction value for the advertiser from a traditional eyeball perspective. But we don't get anything for that value exchange. And all too often the ads are irrelevant to the actual content and have a negative impact on the reader experience.
Driving this pivot is a new approach to digital advertising. By reducing ad spots, SpaceDaily.com creates a valuable space for advertisers who align with its sites. The resulting ad relevance should improve audience engagement and returns for advertisers and us as the publisher.
Separately, SpaceDaily.com continues to develop and test artificial intelligence (AI) for content curation. "We see improved content personalization could further enhance ad relevance the user experience with content automatically enhanced to better align with the reader's reason for viewing what is specialized niche content in whichever vertical a reader is in," said Mansfield.
Mansfield's decision is a signal to the digital advertising industry that demographic data matters, and the current one-size-fits-all advertising approach may not be sustainable. SpaceDaily.com's changes provide a case study for publishers evaluating their relationships with ad networks. As Mansfield and his team implement their new strategy, it's a case study to follow up on.
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