Ad Portals Make Gains Among Publishers

The percentage of magazine publishers using ad portals—Internet-based processing and delivery systems that streamline the online submission of ad files from advertisers and agencies to publishers and printers—grew just one percentage point to 22 percent in 2008, according to FOLIO:’s 2008 Manufacturing and Production Trend Survey. But there is evidence that ad portals are gaining favor among both larger and smaller publishers.

Quad Graphics this week said Condé Nast adopted its AdShuttle technology to support the publisher’s online ad portal, Condé Nast Transmit, which launched last fall. Approximately 60 percent of Condé Nast’s advertisers and agencies are now using Transmit.

Submitted files are available to Condé Nast as a jpeg image in Publishers Studio, a management system that features AdSync and Impoze. Jpegs can then be dropped into the electronic magazine layout. Quad Graphics says Publishers Studio goes beyond basic ad portals to incorporate advertising, editorial and advanced versioning functionality into one real-time operating tool.

According to David Orlin, senior vice president, operations and strategic sourcing, Transmit “has enabled us to streamline the process of receiving and handling ad materials from our advertisers and to develop one unified workflow for all Condé Nast magazines.”

Smaller publishers are adopting ad portals, too, including regional publisher Connecticut Cottages and Gardens. “I think ad portals are going to become big business,” art and production director Matthew Hageman told FOLIO: recently. “They save so much time and aggravation. We’ve logged more hours than we can count troubleshooting files for people.

“I think it can even deter smaller advertisers who can’t afford an agency from advertising at all,” Hageman added. “The idea that an advertiser can drop a file on a Web site, have it preflighted in seconds, and upon approval be placed into the printer’s workflow, is phenomenal."

Estimated Annual Savings by Using an Ad Portal System

REVENUE	SAVINGS
More than $500,000	2%
$200,000-$499,999	9%
$100,000-$199,999	0%
$50,000-$99,999	3%
$20,000-$49,999	10%
$10,000-$19,999	14%
$5,000-$9,999	10%
$1,000-$4,999	16%
$500-$999	7%
$250-$499	2%
Less than $250	10%