I have said this many times before, but it's worth repeating. I fully understand why publishers want to create their own ad networks to compete with Google ... and that's a good thing.

But you are not more brand-friendly.

Here is an example of a newspaper article about terrorism, covered in ads. From a brand perspective, this is not a 'friendly' place to be.

Brand friendly, from a brand perspective, means whether your ads are placed in an environment where people might have a purchase intent.

The journalism is great, and the newspaper is driving a lot of reach to random people. And yes, the paper, as a whole, might have a reputation that makes it more respected overall.

But, articles about terrorism, crime, politics, etc are terrible at driving purchase intent.

This is why Google keeps winning. Google is offering brands a non-media advertising environment, where brands can advertise when people are searching for something specific related to their brand.

This is way more brand-friendly.

BTW: I wrote more about this here: https://twitter.com/baekdal/status/1192464236611592193

Also related (just published): https://twitter.com/baekdal/status/1200013644442079233