Outbrain Expects 25% Revenue Hit As It Cuts Off Spammy Content Marketers

Source: http://adage.com/article/digital/outbrain-cuts-spammy-marketers-expects-revenue-hit/238200/

Content-recommendation engine Outbrain is actively trying to build more trust with readers with the elimination of deceptive “spammy” content marketers.  In the short term, this will be a negative impact on the company’s revenues, as these advertisers currently represent 25% of Outbrain’s total revenues. Nevertheless, the company’s long term revenues will be linked to user confidence in the site, thus foregoing short term revenues will be worth it in the long run. The company’s CEO stated “our business is squeezing more trust out of the audience [so they continue to click on Outbrain links]." The company is being criticized, however, as it is already nearly 6 years old and only has taken it upon themselves to attack this issue now.  To their defense, a company rep stated: "There's a bunch of content that looks like real content, is pretty sophisticated, looks legit, and when you dig into it, it's more deceiving than it seems." Further, last year Outbrain tweaked its algorithm to better match recommended links with the editorial tone of individual publishers, which led to a revenue cut of about 20% at the time.

Given Outbrain’s prominence in the market as a content recommendation engine used by sites such as CNN.com, TMZ.com and NYDailyNews.com, it is essential that its brand remain untarnished and consumer confidence remain high.  Such steps as new “guidelines” will aid in doing so.  These new guidelines are as follows: prohibiting content that has "inaccurate or misleading headlines;" "promote businesses that appear to be generally deceptive or misleading; or "encourage high-risk investments or money-making schemes with the intention of profiting off user participation in such practices." The action Outbrain is taking towards these deceptive marketing tactics is commendable, and I hope it aids in setting a new standard throughout the industry.