Apple is expanding the number of publishers that can serve ads into their Apple News articles using Google’s DoubleClick for Publishers after testing the option last year, according to five publisher and industry executives. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the record. The DFP move lets publishers take the direct-ads sold on their own sites and plug them into Apple’s app. That has the potential to address publishers’ Apple News monetization problems.
And that’s no good for the platform’s participating publishers who hoped to see a turnaround in monetization prospects after NBCU took over selling ads in January. Of course, some of those publishers (CNN, CBS and ABC, namely) were resistant to giving over ad sales to NBCU, but Apple News was also slow let outside measurement companies in. Apple News’ older-skewing audience also helped among advertisers keen to reach the young.
NBCUniversal has struck a deal to start selling advertising across Apple News in 2017 as Apple steps off sales itself and tries to find a footing for the app. Individual publishers can still sell ads that run alongside their own content, and NBCU won’t get access to any Apple data through the deal.
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Stations Wary Of Distributed Content
Allowing original content to live entirely on other platforms has spread through online publishing with locomotive force. Some broadcasters are experimenting with it, but many worry it will erode traffic to their own websites and apps after spending years cultivating it.
