A new hope? Publishers challenge Google ad tech empire
Plus an interview with local journalist of the year Chris Burn
Welcome to your daily update from Press Gazette on Tuesday 6 February, brought to you today in association with Bauer Academy. Future-proof your career and discover the latest trends in journalism with our day courses delivered by Head of Journalism Andrew Greaves and supported by Press Gazette.
In Star Wars terms we are at the point in the story of UK advertising where publishers (the Rebel Alliance) are reduced to a rag-tag army of holdouts.
The Empire (Google) is assembling a mega-weapon internally known as the Death Star (Privacy Sandbox) that it will use to destroy the rebels once and for all.
But the publishers have a plan that could save their people and restore press freedom to the galaxy...
Well in fact they have a couple of plans that are gathering pace, and like all things in online advertising have nonsense names.
I spoke to Ozone chief operating officer Danny Spears, Admiral Ackbar if you would permit me to stretch an already strained analogy, about how his alliance hopes to hold out and maybe even claim back some advertising market share from Google and Facebook.
I also update on another significant development as Reach yesterday announced an advertising deal with Amazon Publisher Services that could help to disrupt Google's monopoly over the online advertising value chain.
Meanwhile, Politico is one of the few UK news publishers to have expanded over the last year. We report on a reshuffle of the (six-strong!) team that produces its daily London Playbook newsletter and reveal how it has grown revenue and more than doubled its editorial team to 40 over the last year.
And finally, we have an interview with Chris Burn of the Yorkshire Post who was recognised at the British Journalism Awards for his part in helping to save 11,000 city trees from destruction.
Sponsored report
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New from Press Gazette
Publisher ad tech platforms Ozone and Mantis advance amid fight to save journalism on open web
Ozone chief operating officer Danny Spears told Press Gazette the platform grew its revenue last year for the fifth year in a row. And he said its solution delivers between three and five times what publishers would receive selling advertising on the open web.
Politico reshuffles London team after year of headcount and revenue growth
“We still think there are more people out there who could love Politico and should read Politico. So we want to reach them, and an election is a great moment to do that.”
Yorkshire Post reporter’s credibility wrongly questioned over Sheffield tree scandal
Chris Burn picked up the British Journalism Award for local reporting in December for his coverage of Sheffield Council’s felling of thousands of much-loved city trees.
Director Ken Loach Ofcom complaint rejected after being ‘maligned’ by Newsnight
Loach complained about a segment in which presenter Victoria Derbyshire said he was expelled from Labour "for supporting members accused of anti-Semitism".
News in brief
The US government's lawsuit accusing Google of anticompetitive practices in its advertising business will go to trial on 9 September. Press Gazette digested what publishers need to know about the suit last year. (CNN)
Microsoft is paying a "substantial" amount to Semafor as part of a sponsorship deal that will also see the publisher launch a generative AI-powered breaking news feed named "Signals". Stories on the feed will be written by journalists but sourced using AI. (Financial Times)
ITV News anchors, particularly Tom Bradby but also Julie Etchingham and Mary Nightingale, "really care about our investigations so will champion them and put them at the top of the bulletin" head of investigations Imogen Barrer has told The New Statesman.
The i has joined news and magazine subscription bundle app Readly, which now features 325 newspapers and more than 7,600 titles globally. Readly UK MD Ranj Begley said the i will appeal to both "busy, time-poor readers" and those seeking unbiased, "quality, verified content".
The Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee has heard concerns about a "concerted campaign of misinformation" against electric vehicles in recent months, including "alarmist headlines". Peers were told "there is an anti-EV story in the papers almost every day". (BBC News)
On the heels of cuts at its Washington DC bureau, The Wall Street Journal has announced 14 new roles at its newsroom in the US capital. Editor in chief Emma Tucker told WSJ staff those laid off last week "will have preference for some of these positions". (Talking Biz News)
Substack alternative Ghost is offering free premium accounts for a year to journalists who have recently been laid off and want to launch their own media businesses. (Ghost)
Local newsletter business 6AM City has raised more than $10m in a funding round led by US local broadcast company Tegna. 6AM City reportedly brought in nearly $8m in 2023 and counts some 1.4 million free subscribers across 26 markets. (Axios)
Previously on Press Gazette
How Sunday Mail journalist defied ‘furious’ denials to expose SNP financial scandal
BBC News Channel names Annita McVeigh, Ben Brown and Geeta Guru-Murthy as chief presenters
News media job cuts 2024 tracked: Year starts with at least 950 redundancies
