Who Needs ‘Corrosive Intermediaries’ Anyway?

Why It Matters

By banding together, publishers can reclaim a larger share of ad revenue and protect editorial independence, a critical step as margins shrink and platform power grows.

Key Takeaways

• Ozone unites UK publishers to pool inventory and data against platform dominance
• Publishers like Daily Mail invest in premium user experiences to boost margins
• Our Media pivots from Google SEO to Apple News distribution
• ‘Corrosive intermediaries’ siphon publisher revenue, prompting direct partnership strategies
• Controlling content distribution, not the entire supply chain, sustains journalism

Pulse Analysis

The programmatic advertising ecosystem has long been riddled with inefficiencies, but recent macro pressures—rising costs, audience fragmentation, and AI‑altered search dynamics—have amplified the strain on publishers. Marketers are pulling spend toward performance‑based channels and walled gardens, leaving open‑web sites to grapple with dwindling referrals and volatile traffic. This environment forces publishers to reassess how they monetize inventory, especially as traditional programmatic models funnel a disproportionate share of revenue to middlemen whose primary goal is margin extraction.

Enter Ozone, a publisher‑led alliance formed in 2018 that seeks to flip the power balance. By aggregating premium inventory and audience data, members gain collective bargaining power against dominant platforms like Google and Meta. The Daily Mail illustrates the "premiumization" route, investing in richer user experiences and creator‑focused initiatives to command higher CPMs. Conversely, Our Media demonstrates a distribution‑first strategy, abandoning sole reliance on Google SEO in favor of Apple News and other third‑party channels. These divergent approaches underscore a shared objective: diversify revenue streams and reduce dependency on any single intermediary.

The broader lesson for the industry is clear—control over content distribution can offset the inability to dominate the entire supply chain. Publishers that forge direct relationships with platforms, develop proprietary data assets, and experiment with premium offerings are better positioned to retain value and sustain journalism. As the ad tech landscape continues to evolve, alliances like Ozone may become essential scaffolding for a resilient, publisher‑centric ecosystem.