Outbrain Inc. (Nasdaq: OB), a leading recommendation platform for the open web, announced a new, multi-year deal with 1XL, the UK’s largest source of premium digital news media audiences as well as display inventory.
1XL, a division of Media Concierge and part of the Mediaforce Group, which owns the largest independent sales house in the UK, will adopt Outbrain as its exclusive recommendation provider. The strategic partnership will focus on growing revenue, supporting re-circulation and driving engagement including subscriptions across 1XL’s range of 43 established and trusted local news media publishers, including Newsquest, Johnston Press, Archant, Iliffe Media, and Tindle.
The deal will see 1XL rolling out Outbrain’s Smartfeed technology to diversify its revenue streams. Smartfeed provides customizable, dynamic, and tailored recommendations, which provides tools for media owners to optimize the user experience, improve engagement, and revenue. It acts as a blank canvas on which a suite of unique cards can be used to deliver editorial, monetization, and specific revenue goals, generating a 20% RPM uplift, when compared to Outbrain’s standard widgets.
With Outbrain’s Smartfeed, 1XL expects to create prominent brand-safe spaces for advertisers to reach relevant consumers from 1XL’s 30.9 million monthly user-base. Additionally, the deal will support targeted and personalized advertising campaigns, as well as feature prominent in-article placements, delivering a premium ad experience for top brands.
“Outbrain’s commitment to championing the open web and journalistic independence aligns with our mission to nurture a healthy presence of local publishers throughout the country,” said Scott Gill, Managing Director at 1XL. “Regional news outlets are essential to the UK’s democratic society and are an essential hub for local communities. Outbrain is a trusted and established partner whose best-in-class recommendation solution will support a range of growth objectives and, we feel, act in the interests of our publishers and their readers.”
“We consider the 1XL co-operative and its constituent publishers and sites valued partners that share our passion for providing unique, relevant, and engaging content,” said James Milne, Managing Director Northern Europe at Outbrain. “Overall, our placements, including our rich and highly viewable native in-article formats, will enhance the reader experience, diversify 1XL’s monetization strategies and bolster engagement. As a trusted partner, we are excited about the value our Smartfeed technology can offer across some of the UK’s oldest and most respected local news titles.”
About Outbrain
Outbrain (Nasdaq: OB) is a leading recommendation platform for the open web. Our technology enables 10 billion daily recommendations to consumers across more than 7,000 online properties and connects advertisers to these audiences to grow their business. Founded in 2006, Outbrain is headquartered in New York with offices in 18 cities worldwide.
About 1XL
1XL is a digital media display proposition comprised of 43 local and regional news publishers. With over 700 sites throughout the UK and Ireland, and a de-duplicated unique user reach of 30.9 million monthly (67% UK active user reach – comScore) our offering provides at-scale access to over half of the UK digital population across highly trusted established news titles. In an era of constantly changing news habits and business models, our news brands remain a consistent part of our readers’ lives. With our established news sites and accompanying social media channels, specialist titles, and content micro-hubs, the 1XL portfolio offers the scale exceeding that of a national Newsbrand with the ability to reach users against almost every geographically and contextually relevant environment. 1XL is a division of Media Concierge which is part of the Mediaforce Group.
