The Scoop
An ad tech company is launching a new platform with a mission of persuading advertisers to return to news.
Ad Fontes Media told Semafor that earlier this month, it launched a partnership with The Trade Desk with the aim of directing more advertising dollars to news by proving to advertisers that quality journalism was where they can find the highest-quality news advertising inventory. In a statement to Semafor, the company said it believed that the new capability inside the ad tech platform could help advertisers find the most reliable, unbiased news sources, which in turn could deliver higher returns than other advertising vertical.
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Ad Fontes Media is most well known for its media bias charts, which attempt to illustrate source reliability and political bias. The company said that it could help flagging advertising revenue for news media companies, which has declined significantly as Facebook and Google have gobbled up digital advertising dollars. In particular, the platform was designed to help advertisers find sites with reliable news and high advertising return categories, including sports, entertainment, and lifestyle news.
“The Trade Desk believes in the power of trusted journalism and the role of advertising in funding it,” Samantha Jacobson, the company’s chief strategy officer, told Semafor. “We are pleased that our customers will now have access to Ad Fontes’ media ratings data so that they can have as much confidence as possible that they are advertising against premium journalism content.”
“It’s never been more important to support responsible journalism and broad consumer access to trustworthy news and information. GroupM is committed to championing journalism through our Responsible Investment Framework and our Back to News Initiative. We applaud Ad Fontes Media and the Trade Desk for their work to support advertiser investment in news and reach high quality audiences in trustworthy environments.” Andrew Meaden, GroupM’s global head of investment, said.
(This item had been corrected to make the The Trade Desk’s role clear.)