Ozone’s ad upgrade puts publisher data to the test

Ozone launched new advertising software this week with a striking claim: 63% more revenue per page at one unnamed global publisher, alongside 69% fewer ad requests. For a business founded by British newspaper groups, the opportunity is substantial: earn more from the readers already there. Advertisers, meanwhile, want evidence that those readers become customers. The investment deserves a commercial trial, but the announcement does not yet establish either a general earnings expectation or additional sales. Publishers deciding what to buy need to know which result is being improved, what it costs and who carries the risk when a campaign disappoints.

Ozone was created through a collaboration between News UK, Guardian Media Group, Telegraph Media Group and Reach. Its new OzoneOS suite brings knowledge of audiences into automated advertising decisions. The launch does not identify any of those founding publishers as the business behind its early result.

David Cohen, chief executive of the US industry body IAB, warned in its 20 October measurement-guide announcement that different methods can “each tell a different story about the same campaign”. That is the complication behind an otherwise attractive commercial pitch.