News publishers have a problem. Not just with their print editions but their electronic versions as well. Many, like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, provide high value content for the edification of visitors (and in the service of a well-functioning democracy) but for many news publishers, their business in the electronic realm is unduly burdened by the ad ecosystem upon which it relies.

First, the ads it shows are of too little relevance to the viewers. Targeted ads were supposed to be more relevant to the viewer than broadcast ads, but they are actually less relevant and lower quality. Perhaps you know this from your own online experience coming in contact with ads for theater tickets that you have already purchased, or for ladies clothes after you, a man, have bought a gift for your sister. Our fear is that the data we give actually produces a false impression of who we are. Or the ads may be relevant but tediously overstocked. If you check something on a health site, you may get the same exercise regime ad wherever you go for the next month. The upshot is that ad blockers are on the rise, with 29.9% of Americans estimated to use ad blockers and 46% of millennials doing so on desktop computers alone. And the more ad blockers, the less revenue for the publisher.

Second, the publisher typically has little to no control over the ads that are placed next to their high value content. For instance, an ad for an untested herbal supplement may run alongside an article about the dangers of foreign knock-off pharmaceuticals.

Finally, in exchange for handing over control of valuable real estate on their site to ad networks, publishers are paid what most objective observers would agree is a very low rate of the total spend by the advertiser to place the ad — as low as 30%.

The YouGov Solution

YouGov Direct, the blockchain-based ad network and platform being developed by YouGov, is intended to support sites by improving ad targeting capabilities and handing control back to the publishers.

The platform will allow individuals to (anonymously) volunteer attributes about themselves, and allow advertisers to use this information to select whom will see their ads. Since the attributes are volunteered, not inferred as is the case with other ad platforms, targeting will improve. In addition, privacy is enhanced as users can choose which attributes to be targeted upon, if any. The user experience is improved — a boost to traffic and subsequent ad revenue for the publisher.

On the other side of the equation, advertisers will know that they are reaching real people with real attributes. This means they can pay more per ad, which would mean more money flowing through to publishers.

Furthermore, each time an ad is served, the transaction is posted to a blockchain. Data posted will include the category of attributes the individual was willing to be targeted upon (perhaps age, gender, zip code, hobby), the advertiser, the payment made by the advertiser, and how that payment was divided between publisher, viewer and YouGov. This will create an immutable, auditable, and transparent record of consent on the part of the individual for his/her personal data to be used in this way, and who paid how much to whom to use it. A transparent record of consent and payments are required under the May 2018 EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Going a step further, in an effort to ultimately hand more control to the publishers, YouGov Direct is proposing a YG/Publisher cooperative. When a visitor comes to the site of a publisher who is a member of the cooperative, the (GDPR compliant) data the publisher has on the visitor (say, which articles they’ve read in the past) is analyzed alongside YouGov data (also GDPR compliant) using YouGov provided software to get a fuller picture of the visitor. (YouGov data is already used in this way by third parties such as social networks and ad networks to better know their members or audience.)

Cooperative members would be able to create white or black lists, so as to ultimately control which types of ads go alongside their content. Moreover, such a cooperative would provide a single platform for user data, ad matching, and serving — eliminating several layers of the current ad ecosystem and, in doing so, free up about 55% of total ad spend that currently goes to middlemen. (Keep in mind in the current system publishers are left with about 30% of total ad spend — a number that could jump considerably if another 55% were internalized in such a cooperative).

Lastly, publishers would be eligible to receive a royalty from any YG members referred by the publisher. It’s in all parties’ best interest for there to be more participants, and for YouGov to funnel direct, additional payments to publishers when they leverage their traffic in this manner.

The future of informed, non partisan journalism may hinge on the ability of publishers to thrive in the age of ubiquitous content. YouGov Direct aims to materially benefit publishers by improving the experience of their visitors and by compensating publishers more equitably for the value they provide.