Publishing Profitability Survey Shows Mix of Optimism, Naiveté
Publishers today have surprisingly little knowledge of which and how many third-party companies – such as Google, advertising vendors and others – are accessing and profiting from their user and audience data. That was one of the results revealed today in the Cxense Publishing Profitability Survey. The survey of more than 380 qualified US publishing executives, conducted by Cxense in conjunction with Editor and Publisher magazine, showed that nearly 80 percent of respondents simply do not know who accesses their audience data. Additional data points after the jump.
Key Survey Statistics
- 78% of publishers admit to having no knowledge of which and how many third-party companies are accessing their user/audience data
- 34% of publishers don’t think ad revenues will ever surpass the all-time high of 2005; 60% think it will take 2-10 years to exceed that level
- 89% of publishers expect their company’s digital revenues will grow during the next 12 months, with ad sales ranking as the top reason why at 62%
- 40% of respondents list smart phones as the most prominent platform for accessing content; 34% list print as the least prominent.
- 47% of respondents currently have a paid digital subscription to a newspaper; 37% say they would consider paying for subscriptions while more than 15% said they would not consider a paid digital subscription.