Over the past three years, Freestar has implemented extensive measures to ensure our publishers consistently meet today’s high-quality standards, benefiting both their audiences and our advertising partners. Publisher quality remains a critical factor for successful ad monetization, and we’re committed to upholding these standards.
Publisher quality is a core pillar of our audience strategy, deeply integrated across many aspects of our business. It influences everything from the publishers we target and how we monitor quality signals to how our audience team collaborates with publishers to grow audiences in the right areas. This commitment to quality forms the core of our Freestar DNA. High-quality publishers can deliver better user experiences, attract more engaged audiences, and deliver better ad performance, all of which leads to higher revenue.
Here’s a breakdown of why quality matters:
1. Audience Trust
High-quality publishers typically have established trust with their audiences, leading to = users are more engaged and receptive to content, including ads. Users who trust the website tend to view more pages per session and stay longer – two key engagement metrics that are consistent with top performing ad revenue per page.
How to Increase User Trust:
- To establish a strong and authoritative brand presence online, it’s crucial to ensure that comprehensive information about your company is readily available for users and search engines alike. Start by creating a detailed About Page and featuring it prominently in your top site navigation. This page should provide a clear, engaging description of your business and the value it offers, making it easier for platforms like Google to generate a knowledge graph around your brand. Don’t forget to include essential details such as contact information and an updated privacy policy to inspire trust and transparency.
- Prioritize UX over monetization. Websites cluttered with excessive ads, pop-ups, and other disruptive elements not only frustrate visitors but also erode trust, making users less likely to engage with content or ads. A modern, streamlined website design, especially optimized for mobile users, is imperative. Navigation should be intuitive, with critical sections easily accessible from the main menu, and the addition of breadcrumb navigation can further enhance the user journey by simplifying content discovery.
- Relevancy should be a guiding principle across your site. Google tends to reward content that demonstrates authority in a specific niche, so focusing on a well-defined area of expertise will make it easier to build credibility and brand recognition. Rather than attempting to be an expert in every field, carving out a specialized domain allows for a more organic and effective growth strategy, positioning your brand as a trusted thought leader in your industry.
2. Ad Viewability
Ads that appear on quality sites are more likely to be seen by users because these publishers prioritize clean layouts, faster loading times, and optimal ad placements. Better viewability leads to higher ad effectiveness, as ads are more visible and accessible to users, which increases CPMs.
Since August, we’ve achieved a 147% increase in the volume of PMP deals across our network. These deals are designed to meet the high expectations of premium advertisers, with most requiring a minimum viewability rate of 70% to ensure optimal ad performance. As a result, only sites that consistently meet or exceed this standard are considered for inclusion in these premium packages, emphasizing our commitment to delivering quality inventory and driving value for both publishers and advertisers.
3. Brand Safety
High-quality publishers provide a brand-safe environment for advertisers. Advertisers are increasingly cautious about where their ads appear to avoid being associated with inappropriate or harmful content.
Because quality publishers reduce the risk of brand damage, they attract premium advertisers willing to pay higher rates for safe, reputable placements. One of the reasons that audience curation is on the rise is the ability to select a collection of domains that the advertiser is confident in.
Partners That Keep Us Honest
For years we have relied on Jounce Media for their data on high-risk supply, and their insights around MFA and keeping supply paths clean. Freestar is proud to be a Jounce Bellwether Publisher, recognized for the high-quality supply that spans our 800+ enterprise publishers.
We recently launched a partnership with Deepsee.io in order to track key quality signals for publishers, both legacy and prospects. By leveraging Deepsee’s robust data insights, we now have greater confidence in demonstrating to advertisers that our publishers provide a brand-safe and highly desirable environment. Deepsee’s advanced analytics allow us to monitor and validate key safety metrics, ensuring our inventory aligns with the highest industry standards and offering reassurance to advertisers looking for quality, and secure placements.
Additionally, here are the Freestar publisher requirements that must be met prior to eligibility.
4. Better Ad Relevance and Contextual Targeting
Contextual targeting often presents the best possible ad experience for a user.
Quality publishers typically provide specialized, well-curated content that allows for effective contextual targeting. Advertisers can serve ads that align closely with the content, creating a more relevant experience for the user. This boosts ad performance and monetization potential, as relevant ads are more likely to convert.
5. User Retention and Ad Block Avoidance
Users on high-quality sites are less likely to use ad blockers since ads are often integrated thoughtfully and presented in non-intrusive ways. This improves the publisher’s ability to monetize, as they can reach more of their audience with ads and build long-term revenue through user retention.
Low-quality sites are also much more likely to be added to an advertiser block list, either based on the full domain or just by keyword exclusivity.
Low-quality sites face a significantly higher risk of being added to advertiser block lists, whether through full domain exclusions or keyword-based restrictions. This not only limits monetization opportunities but also undermines the site’s ability to attract premium ad campaigns, highlighting the importance of maintaining high standards to meet advertiser expectations.
6. Long-Term Partnerships with Advertisers
In a recent Hubspot trend report, 68% of publishers believe more direct deal revenue is the best opportunity for increased revenue in 2025.
At Freestar, we maintain strong, direct relationships with many premium advertisers, and work with them on behalf of our publishers, in order to increase the amount of revenue brought in by ID-based deals and curation packages. This approach ensures our publishers can tap into exclusive opportunities, optimizing their inventory while delivering targeted, relevant experiences.
It’s quality publishers that are able to form strong, lasting relationships with advertisers who see value in the consistency and reliability of their placements. These partnerships lead to repeat business and often open up opportunities for exclusive or direct deals, bypassing intermediary fees and increasing profit margins.
7. Compliance with Industry Standards
High-quality publishers are generally more compliant with industry standards and best practices. Keeping above-board on data privacy, transparency, and fraud prevention makes them trusted partners for advertisers and networks.
For our own business efforts, we see a strong correlation between publisher quality and their agreement to the expectations Freestar internal teams set. Quality publishers have a strong alignment to our internal standards including adherence to timeline, willingness to implement ad layout recommendations, demand approvals and even proactive engagement in communication channels, thus making them long-term partners for Freestar.
Publisher quality impacts every part of the ad monetization process—from the perception and engagement of the audience to the ROI and trust of advertisers.
