In a subtle shift, The New York Times has reinvigorated its advertising strategy by reinstating open programmatic advertisements within its mobile application, a move anticipated to enhance its ad revenue. Open programmatic advertising, known for its efficiency in digital ad purchases in real-time, is now back on the table for the media giant’s mobile platform.
Back in 2019, the Times made a strategic decision to discontinue open programmatic ads in its mobile app, focusing instead on bolstering subscriptions and addressing concerns over app performance, particularly slow loading times attributed to these ads. Nevertheless, programmatic ads remained a feature on their website.
This year marked a change in strategy. The Times discreetly began to re-engage with programmatic advertising on its mobile platform, specifically within its News app, a leader in the news segment on Apple’s App Store. This change wasn’t arbitrary but followed a period of meticulous analysis and experimentation.
A representative from the Times clarified, “With the industry’s recent progress, we’ve strategically welcomed back top-tier open programmatic ads on both our News app and website after an exhaustive series of trials and assessments. These advertisements maintain our commitment to a superior, reader-centric experience. Our preliminary ventures in this domain have been promising, owing to stringent quality regulation, and we plan on delving deeper into these explorations.”
The specifics about which adtech collaborators have the green light for ad space within its News app remain undisclosed by the Times. However, its existing arrangement for the desktop website includes prominent players like Google, Index Exchange, PubMatic, and Magnite, as revealed by its ads.txt file— a public record indicating verified programmatic ad sellers.
Matt Barash, a senior figure at Index Exchange, emphasizes that this development highlights the growing expertise in curating large-scale programmatic ad campaigns without compromising on quality among publishers, the Times included.
Moreover, open programmatic advertising proves beneficial in financially challenging times, appealing to marketers with its cost-effectiveness and ease of transaction.
