Dive Brief:
- ESPN has signed a two-year deal with content recommendation platform Outbrain that will provide third-party advertisers with new premium inventory.
- Outbrain's technology is being integrated into ESPN's in-house sales platform—allowing outside content to be seeded directly into ESPN's editorial stream.
- Previously, Outbrain's content was delivered at the bottom of publishers' articles through it's widget. By working directly with publishers' sales teams—like ESPN, CNN, and Time Inc.—Outbrain can now integrate content suggestions in more native positions, like the editorial stream and side bar.
Dive Insight:
Outbrain's progression from solely a recommendation widget to a strong force in native ad placement could be a game changer for online publishing. With a global reach of 550 million, Outbrain brings in an audience to publishers' sales teams that would be hard to turn down.