Newsweek Uses Semantics to Boost CPM

Publishers now have yet another tool for monetizing the content on their Web sites. The Peer39 platform uses semantic targeting technology to analyze publishers’ stock of URL categories and more precisely match advertisements to related editorial content.

The semantic technology “targets ads online according to the meaning and sentiment of Web pages,” Peer39 CEO Amiad Solomon told FOLIO:. “When ads are targeted with this degree of relevance to the page, with the brands of advertisers protected, that means publishers can get more revenue from each page of their content.”

Using semantic targeting makes more use of existing URL inventory by automatically increasing the number of relevant categories for each page, according to the company. For example, Peer39’s SemanticMatch system can take one page from a particular, lower CPM section on a Web site and categorize into other, higher performing categories, depending on the “meaning” of the page.

“Simply put, our technology understands the difference between ‘The Amazon is a great place to visit,’ which has a travel topic, and ‘Amazon is a great place to visit,’ which has an e-commerce topic,” Solomon said. “In addition, because we analyze each page on the fly, we can determine if the page contains objectionable content. We pass that information on so top-tier advertisers can protect their brands from appearing where they don’t want to be associated.”

Newsweek recently adopted the Peer39 technology. While the magazine is still in it “earliest stages” using the platform, Newsweek Digital general manager Geoff Reiss said the potential revenue generation was attractive. “We decided to partner with Peer39 because we were impressed with the core concept of the business and the technology,” he said. “The ability to derive greater value out of already existing inventory is a potentially significant win for publishers and an opportunity too important to ignore.”

Implementation of the Peer39 platform does not require an IT investment on the part of the publisher, said Solomon. “The integration is simple and can be achieved within a matter of hours,” he said. “We work directly with publishers’ ad operations teams and their existing systems. There is no extra hardware or software expense.”

Publishers can either be charged an annual flat rate gauged by the number of impressions or a per-CPM fee, Solomon said.

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