WINR unveils first-party data platform for Aussie publishers
Australian media technology company WINR has announced the launch of a new consent-based first-party data platform designed to give local publishers more independence from global platforms such as Google and Facebook.
AdGate Audience Builder is the understood to be one of the industry’s first platforms to allow publishers to gather their own first-party identity and insights at scale, to create addressable audiences.
It will provide a means for publishers to increase audience engagement while giving consumers access to journalism for free, without infringing their privacy.
WINR first launched AdGate in 2020 as an advertiser-funded paywall to support publishers and supplement the decline in the performance of display ads.
WINR founder and co-CEO Marcelo Ulvert
With the launch of its Audience Builder, WINR founder and CEO, Marcelo Ulvert, said he wants to shift the balance of power back towards local publishing.
“The adtech model supply chain, as it stands today is dominated by a few internet giants. We want to support a move that gives back balance and equality to our local publishing industry.
“As such, we are on a mission to provide publishers with the tools to be in charge of their own destiny, and empower them to thrive regardless of what happens in the industry.”
AdGate Audience Builder’s launch also comes as support for third-party cookies draws to a close, with a study by Google finding that the impact of an over-reliance on cookie-based identifiers has resulted in a 52% decrease in publisher revenue.
This morning Google announced it will not build an alternate identifier system to track individuals as they browse across the web once third-party cookies are phased out.
Ulvert said that now is a critical time for publishers to invest in first-party data and regain control over their audiences.
“It is critical the publishing industry gains more independence and control over their own audience and put mitigation strategies in place as the standoff between news, government and big tech continues,” he said.
“With data being at the core of the ad tech industry, it is vital we move to a new collection and utilisation model that gives publishers more autonomy.”
WINR has been testing its Audience Builder with several publishers including Are Media and Now To Love over the past six months.
In that time, these platforms have achieved a 20% engagement rate, well above the industry average of around 1%.
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