Category: In the News

This week’s Media Briefing looks at why publishers are once again turning to social platforms for audience growth and revenue as AI-driven search changes and declining Google traffic put pressure on their owned-and-operated businesses. But publishers have learned from the past, and the playbook is different.

• Publishers bet on platforms again
• Jeff Bezos on pushing The Washington Post to profitability, Business Insider CEO exiting, and more.

Publishers bet on platforms again

Publishers once got burned by over-relying on social platforms for growing their reach and revenue. But now, they may need them again. As Google referral traffic declines and AI adoption grows, some publishers are chasing off-platform revenue and views to offset onsite audience and digital advertising losses.

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As the holding companies suck up or build more ad tech, including AI-powered data curation — look no further than Publicis’ recent $2.2 billion acquisition of LiveRamp — independents find themselves in a position of not being able to afford the same kinds of investments. But they want to stay as relevant and up to date as possible.

Enter Knower Tech, one of many companies owned by Know Co., which Digiday has described as an altruistic holding company/investment firm. Knower Tech, which houses all manner of tech-driven innovations for small agencies, is bundling many of those innovations into an offshoot called Rain Barrel — creating a data curation offering for those agencies as well as to brands and publishers.

Knower Tech has brought onboard Mike Racic, the president of Prebid, to be its managing director, and he will oversee the creation of Rain Barrel. Also joining is Prebid’s director of product management Christian Janelli as vp of product strategy. Knower Tech has been a member of Prebid. 

The new data vertical Racic and Janelli will oversee aims to synthesize complementary data tools (which includes an existing product named RainBarrel, as well as bot detection tool Real Impression) into a cohesive, AI-powered vertical for agencies and in-house marketing teams. This ecosystem will allow brands to activate their own first-party data assets across the open web in what Knower Tech said is a privacy-safe and transparent manner.

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