Despite Q1’s slow start, publishers are bullish about events revenue for 2023
With publishers reporting that Q1 advertising revenue is tracking 10% to 25% down from forecasts and with RPMs (revenue earned per 1,000 pageviews) from open marketplace programmatic ads down even further — between 20% and 55% year over year — finding silver linings is more important than ever. And based on four publishers’ experiences so far this quarter, it looks like events might be that small saving grace.
Earlier this year, several publishers said they were pushing back the timelines for their tentpole events to the second half of the year, in order to give advertisers more time to secure the budgets necessary for higher-cost event partnerships. This strategy, combined with advertisers’ quest to get the most bang for their buck, seems to have paid off.