For the first time, half of Forbes Inc.’s revenues will come from its digital businesses, according to Meredith Levien, the business media company’s chief revenue officer.
Erik Sass of Media Daily News writes, “In a conversation at the American Magazine Conference, Levien was quick to point out that this proportional increase isn’t a result of shrinkage on the print side. Forbes‘ print revenues are also up, thanks to a 12.5% increase in ad pages in the first nine months of the year, per the Publishers Information Bureau.”That compares favorably with rivals in the business category like Fortune, down 2.4% in the same period; Inc., down 6%; and Money, down 6.4%. (For the magazine business as a whole, ad pages are down 8.6% in the first three quarters.)“Forbes’ digital revenues are up 27% through the month of August.
“Although Levien declined to share dollar figures, she credited the strong growth to a variety of initiatives, including the company’s BrandVoice product, which allows marketers to create custom content on the site; bigger, more interactive ad formats, including IAB-blessed ‘Rising Star’ units; and its embrace of programmatic selling, making online inventory available for public bidding on the company’s own ad exchange, the Forbes Audience Network.”
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