The subject line comes from my wife asking if there was a Spirit Halloween near us. We live in New Jersey. So, the real question isn’t if there’s one nearby, but which abandoned store it’s currently haunting. Honestly, it’s more likely that we’ll find one in our own house than not find one at all.
That’s how publisher websites feel right now. If there’s an open spot, we’ll cram in an ad. Doesn’t matter if it fits. Doesn’t matter if it ruins the vibe. Just hang up the banner and keep moving.
But here’s the thing: our competition isn’t some mom-and-pop blog. It’s AI summaries and infinite-scroll social feeds. And while those platforms will eventually load up with more ads (shareholders demand it), they still look better than us right now. We’ve gone from “poisoning the well” to just having a well of poison.
If we want to argue that publisher content is worth more than raw material for LLMs, we need to act like it. Human connection, trust, quality — that’s the farm-to-table promise. Instead, most sites look more like a hot dog cart outside Penn Station: technically food, but no one’s mistaking it for a meal.
Spirit Halloween is a reminder: temporary tenants signal a dying mall. Publishers who rent their credibility to anyone with a credit card aren’t in a much stronger position. So before you sell every inch of your site to the highest bidder, ask yourself: do you want to be a destination people trust… or just another empty storefront waiting for Spirit Halloween to move in?
📚 Required reading
Start your week off strong with a few essential reads from us and our partners.
- Publisher considerations for partner consolidations
Emry DowningHall, Programmatic Revenue & Strategy at Unwind Media
Some have argued the industry should first change its incentive structurebefore publishers are asked to adjust their monetization strategy. Or, this sentiment should be DSP-mandated and SSP driven instead of publisher-focused. While I understand the framework of that argument, ultimately, this isn’t a measure of blame. It’s an exploration around the sustainable opportunities and outcomes that a cleaner partner stack presents when combined with a publisher’s focus on ad quality and organic audience.
- 4 ways publishers are consolidating to survive (and thrive) in 2025
Michael Edwards, VP of Sales & Accounts at adops.comIt’s been a tough year for publishers. Traditional ad revenues have been sliding, new platforms are changing the rules, and now clickless search is shaking up how people discover content. That’s why many publishers are joining forces. Through acquisitions, partnerships, or even full-on restructures, the aim is to achieve greater scale, efficiency, and market power.
- As publishers, we don’t serve readers, we serve shareholders
Anonymous publisher op-ed
If you’re a publisher, you can keep playing the game as it’s set up:clutter the pages, pile on widgets, serve shareholders first, and hopethe math doesn’t break under you. But that’s killing the very productyou’re trying to sell. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually you’ll reach a point you can’t recover from.
- Publishers, chasing revenue at all costs is costing you
Deep-dive analysis by Rob Beeler
Why don’t publishers feel like they can walk away? Part of it’s the reality: infinite supply, limited demand. Buyers have more options than you do, and it’s true. Larger publishers can flex in ways that mid-tier publishers can’t. But a lot of this is simply the power of perception; you’ve been led to believe you have no power.
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This is an exclusive for publishers and partners only. On this month’s Camp.Fire call (THIS WEDNESDAY, October 29 at 12 p.m. Eastern), we’re digging into publisher strategies in the LLM era with Scott Messer. We’re going to discuss the biggest challenges and opportunities ahead of us, and how publishers can shift from passive targets to active participants in shaping the future of AI-powered content. If you’re in our community, you know how to sign-up. We hope to see you there!
Base.Camp Lisbon is SOLD OUT, everybody!
Next week, leaders from BCN, Público, Future Today, Expedia Group, Medialivre, News UK, OLX, MEDAL, Skyscanner, BBC Studios, Mail Metro Media, The Economist, Reach PLC, Schibsted, Immediate Media, Bauer Media Group, Adevinta, Planet Sport, News Corp, Telegraph Media Group, Condé Nast, and others will be coming together in Lisbon.
We’ve got big conversations on deck about identity, what the future of publishing must look like, weighting the value of different audience segments, privacy rules, AI, traffic fluctuations, and more.
While we are sold out for Lisbon, Base.Camp will be returning in 2026! So if you’re missing out this time around, it’s never too early to let us know you’re interested in joining us next year:
- Base.Camp San Antonio: March 1-4, 2026
- Base.Camp La Jolla: October 4-7, 2026
- Base.Camp Madrid: November 8-11, 2026
If you want to join us at an upcoming Base.Camp, now is the time to raise your hand!
A full list of our 2025 events all in one nice little package:
- Base.Camp Lisbon - November 2-5, 2025
- Base.Camp San Antonio - March 1-4, 2026
- Advertising Economic Forum NYC - March 18-19, 2026
- Digital Day Camp: Spring, April 15 & 16, 2026
- AI Publisher Response Event - TBD
- Navigator NYC - May 5, 2026
- Navigator London - June 9, 2026
- Base.Camp La Jolla - October 4-7, 2026
- Digital Day Camp: Fall - October 21 & 22, 2026
- Base.Camp Madrid - November 8-11, 2026
More things to keep your eyes out for:
- Read our take on the top updates/news items from around the industry.
- Look for your next job on our job board. Also - sign up for our Jobs Newsletter (delivered every Thursday). Subscribe here.
- Fill your open positions by helping us help you: Submit a job and check out a job seeker like Job Seeker 2, just search “Job Seeker 2” to be taken directly to their description.
Chicago AdTech Happy Hour, sponsored by Freestar
📅 November 12, 5:00 pm CT
📍 The Publican @ 837 W Fulton Market in West Loop
RSVP here!Join the Community!
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