Economist to sell advertising based on time

The Economist, like the Financial Times before it, plans to sell advertising based on time, reports Suzanne Vranica of The Wall Street Journal.

Vranica writes, “The publication will guarantee advertisers buying space on its apps and web site  that readers will spend a certain amount of time with their ads. For example, it will guarantee that an ad that appears for three weeks on its apps will receive 100 hours of reader’s attention.

“Until now, the Economist has sold ad space on the cost per thousand views — CPMs. With its new approach, it is trying to show that the ads they serve get more attention than on competing outlets.

“‘We need to find ways to highlight to advertisers that there is a different level of engagement they get from our readers, value that isn’t reflective in just clicks,’ said Paul Rossi, president of the Economist’s group media businesses.  ‘We are not a content farm,’ he added.

“The Economist isn’t alone in trying this approach. The Financial Times, whose parent Pearson plc owns 50% of the Economist, has also been experimenting with a new way of selling ads based on time spent rather than impressions.”

Read more here.