News Corp debuts new ad platform News IQ promising premium first party data insights and brand safety assurances
News Corp has unveiled its latest digital offering News IQ, a ‘brand safe’ advertising platform boasting an audience of over 140 million in the US alone that features all its first-party data insights for the first time.
News IQ gives advertisers access to a suite of titles, including Dow Jones, NY Post, Move Inc, HarperCollins and Storyful
News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson has been among the most vocal critics of the pitfalls of the digital media landscape, especially of environments that run ads against user generated content. Earlier in the year, the media giant’s Times of London editorial team was responsible for the high profile brand safety exposé series, which prompted a widespread advertiser walkout from video-sharing site YouTube.
News IQ marks the first time that News Corp has integrated all of its collective first-party data, premium media properties and data science tools into one unified advertising solution, with the publisher claiming it will also offer “precise and measurable results.”
Media buyers participating in the launch include: Dentsu Aegis Network; Douglas Elliman; Seabourn Cruise Line; among others, along with News Corp broadcaster Fox Broadcasting Company.
According to News Corp, News IQ will leverage the first-party data of some of the launch partners, as well as collaborate with MasterCard Ad Intelligence to create bespoke advertising solutions.
The announcement comes as News Corp’s chief executive Robert Thompson prepares to address the 45th Annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York City, and rounds-off a year of him posturing over issues such as 'fake news' and brand safety.
Speaking earlier in the year during a call with financial analysts, he warned of the dangers of advertisers being “juxtaposed with jaundice” before hinting at the publishing giant’s upcoming “ad network… without fear of guilt by association.”
Part of this commitment to brand safety was the appointment of Jesse Angelo as chief of digital advertising solutions at News Corp, who was quick to highlight how News IQ represented a quality solution for marketers.
In a press release, he commented: “In a world of fake news and fraudulent metrics, News IQ offers advertisers a clear solution: quality audience, quality data, and quality environments.
“And that translates into three layers of brand safety for every campaign, protection from fraud, and the ability to effectively reach premium audiences at scale with precision inside a trusted and transparent ecosystem.”
Also commenting on the launch, Art Muldoon, Amnet US' co-chief executive (part of Dentsu Aegis Network) added: “This is a platform that will not only simplify the supply chain, but offer greater precision and scale in a trusted environment, which advertisers expect.”
The announcement comes a day after YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki penned a blog post addressing recent headlines highlighting the video-sharing network’s vulnerabilities to abusive comments and child predators, as well its ongoing brand safety issues. In it, she detailed how it has introduced a four-step action plan in the hope of battling the brand safety concerns that have plagued it this year.