A publisher's most valuable audience signal can be the hardest thing to sells. It thrives in direct deals and custom builds because it was never packaged in a form a buyer could act on without a phone call. Pinterest's commercial intent across visual search and shopping, the trust of Hearst's readers and viewers, and Mediavine's contextual data are incredibly valuable in direct deals. But as buyers start sending agents instead of RFPs, those signals become even harder to monetize.
The panelists agreed that flattening their audiences and signals into simple labels like "sports" or "lifestyle" strips out the context buyers actually want. "It's about merchandising your inventory," Amanda said, so buyers can pick and choose.
Heather described AI as "a copilot, not on autopilot," and urged publishers to understand what their data is telling them and make it readable for agents. Dave called moving a complex RFP process to agentic a data foundation challenge, and described that foundation as ongoing work rather than a destination.
The panel's shared advice: invest in your data foundations now. As Amanda put it, publishers leaning in could see an opportunity they haven't had in a long time, and both sides of the market stand to benefit.
