Why publishers with audience lists are leaving traditional publishers in the dust

It’s a tale of two diverging digital economies: Publishers who have spent years building audiences through emails and phone numbers and engaging audiences through mediums like newsletters and text messages are thriving in the current digital economy. Their success shows a kind of revival, helped by outside factors driving this growth, and they appear well-positioned for what the future of the digital economy has in store.

In contrast, publishers that have long depended on search engines or other platforms to reach their audiences are facing mounting challenges. The rise of large language models (LLMs) has brought the cost of creating content to nearly zero and search platforms have been forced to respond to the disruption by making adjustments that serve their long-term interests; this has resulted in less traffic to websites from their platforms. Their problems have compounded over the past year, causing growth to slow down or even decline, and there is no encouraging data to suggest a turnaround in the future.

Ezoic data shows that list publishers with growing audiences are seeing higher revenue and ad rates with the help of new protocols available for utilizing first-party data. Meanwhile, traditional publishers who rely on organic search traffic are both losing visitors and earning less than their counterparts. This pattern—more audience equals more advertiser competition—broadly holds true across the board. However, the introduction of first-party data as a new mechanism for list publishers to identify their audience directly to advertisers has proven to be an unprecedented difference-maker. Direct audience relationships are proving to be a multi-beneficial attribute, propelling list publishers forward at a time when most others are facing new challenges.

Why publishers with first-party data have gotten ahead

The advantage of directly reaching an audience has always provided a well-understood benefit to publishers. More recently, direct audience relationships offer protection from growing risks posed by big tech platforms and LLMs, and they provide new advantages in how publishers are able to generate revenue through first-party data. 

Using first-party data in programmatic ad buying has become the industry's most effective response to new user-privacy regulations and the continued depreciation of third-party cookies. Over the past three to four years, new protocols for using first-party data effectively matured into ‘identity solutions’—a broad classification for the collection of partners, providers and technologies facilitating ad buying and selling first-party data. Advertiser adoption of first-party data strategies has accelerated quickly, largely due to improvements in effectiveness, transparency and increased autonomy. Publishers with first-party data have been a lot slower, partially due to awareness and technical complexity in implementation. That has changed recently with tools like Ezoic’s ezID simplifying integration with these protocols. 

Identity solutions offer a number of benefits to these publishers:

1. Self-reliance for publishers, transparency for advertisers: First-party data enables publishers to gain deeper insights into audience behaviors and preferences. By utilizing customer data platforms (CDPs) and universal IDs, publishers can tailor content and marketing strategies to align with user interests, leading to improved engagement and loyalty. This is precisely what advertisers are seeking as well. When third-party cookies were more widely utilized, advertisers were seeking ways to ensure that the audiences they were targeting accurately reflected their target market. Google and other ad platforms made audiences indistinguishable, but buying directly from publishers offers greater transparency for advertisers and more self-reliance for publishers.

2. Audience relationships can now contribute to revenue: Publishers using first-party data solutions have reported RPM increases two to three times higher when audiences are matched to “ad IDs,” one of the newer identity protocols. These gains are attributed to more competitive bidding from advertisers who want to buy audiences directly. Audience aggregators and identity solutions providers offer the bidding chain valuable ways of scaling the purchase of these well-defined audiences, and advertisers have found a lot of value from this means of ad buying—and are thus willing to pay more. This has led to high demand for audiences originating from publishers with lists and other first-party data they’ve collected.

The value of first-party data underscores how the evolution of ad buying has contributed to the tailwinds for list publishers while presenting traditional publishers with hindering headwinds.

The long-term strategic importance of first-party data

Approximately 70% of publishers anticipate that first-party data will provide a significant competitive advantage. This stems from enhancing marketing and management strategies to maintain robust audience engagement and loyalty. Plug-and-play platforms like Ezoic’s ezID have enabled publishers to streamline how they’re able to begin using first-party data. These new solutions are likely to drive higher rates of adoption from publishers over the next few years.

The use of first-party data also aligns with privacy-centric practices, building trust by respecting user data and addressing privacy concerns effectively. First-party data collection adheres to privacy standards such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), providing a transparent and secure way for publishers to gather insights without reliance on third-party data. This in turn bolsters user confidence in the brand. Strategies focused on data security and compliance not only protect user information but also establish trust by demonstrating a commitment to safeguarding user data.

By reducing reliance on third-party sources and focusing on direct audience interactions, publishers can cultivate stronger, more authentic relationships. Creating owned channels where users willingly share their data, like reg walls and paywalls, facilitates direct relationship-building and ensures data authenticity. Engaging users through initiatives such as competitions and content personalization establishes a community atmosphere, which, in turn, strengthens relationships by encouraging active participation and feedback.

These trends are speeding up, not slowing down

The future can be hard to predict, but all signs point to healthy growth for publishers who use their own first-party data. They have a big opportunity to create steady income and keep succeeding; traditional publishers, on the other hand, will need to adapt much faster to avoid falling behind.

This means shifting their focus from just getting lots of traffic to building real value with their audience. Instead of counting clicks, they need to focus on quality engagement and meaningful connections. Publishers who make this change can set themselves up for long-term success, becoming less dependent on platforms and better prepared for future industry changes. The key isn’t just gathering data—it’s using it wisely to grow stronger, more profitable relationships with their audience.