Interview with Andrew Kraft: Has Publisher Monetization Hit A Wall?

For years, publishers have chased higher RPMs by cramming more ads into every available pixel. But with traffic tanking, SEO shifting, and users tuning out, even the most optimized pages are hitting their limits.

So what comes after the page?

In this exclusive interview, veteran ad tech strategist Andrew Kraft, former COO of The Arena Group and advisor to some of the industry's most forward-thinking platforms, pulls back the curtain on what’s really holding publishers back from growth. From affiliate models that don’t take up real estate to revenue tools that work after the user leaves your site, Kraft unpacks why incremental revenue is still possible.

Please introduce yourself.

Andrew Kraft: Hi, I'm Andrew Kraft. I’ve been in the ad tech industry for over 27 years, 22 of those years were spent supporting publishers and agencies, primarily publishers, at companies like the IAB, AppNexus, and Collective.

Then I became a publisher myself. I joined The Arena Group as COO and president, overseeing properties like Sports Illustrated, The Street, Men's Journal, Parade, and over 200 others. For the past year and a half, I’ve been advising agencies, publishers, and tech companies, like Stay22, on strategy and where the industry is heading.

How do publishers typically measure monetization and why have many hit a wall?

Andrew: Big question. Most web-based publishers still focus on RPM, revenue per thousand impressions. There are two ways to increase that: one is adding more ads to the page; the other is increasing how much each ad slot earns, through SSPs, DSPs, or direct deals.

But here's the problem: most publishers have already optimized their pages. They've maxed out what the page can do. And now it's becoming less effective.

There’s a line in Ready Player One where a character says, “Our studies have shown we can put ads on over 80% of the user’s field of view before inducing seizures.” That’s how far some publishers have gone. Push too far, and you’re labeled MFA (Made for Advertising) and you get banned from allowlists or penalized by tools like Scope3.

At the same time, traffic from Google is dropping dramatically, anywhere from 30% to 70% for some publishers, because of AI-powered answers keeping users on the search engine. So when your traffic drops and your pages are saturated, you either have to make each page more valuable or find other ways to monetize beyond the page.

Should publishers give up on finding new incremental revenue?

Andrew: Give up? Never. I raised four kids as sports fans, and I taught them real fans stay until the end of the game, even if your team’s losing. The same goes for publishers.

But you can’t stop at what you’ve been doing. You’ve got to ask: how else can we drive revenue? Not just from optimizing ad placements, but by exploring other options like PMP, curation, syndication models, off-page content distribution, affiliate programs that don’t take up real estate.

For most publishers, CTV is hard to break into, but partnering with platforms that amplify your reach? That’s doable. The key is getting away from the mindset that all growth has to come from your page RPM. That’s an outdated model.

What’s the new way of doing affiliate marketing?

Andrew: I used to think affiliate was just underlined links and top-10 lists… you know, SEO-heavy articles with Amazon links. But then I started working with Stay22, who’s producing this interview, and I realized the game has changed.

What’s really exciting now is the ability to analyze user behavior in real time. You can infer intent by what people are actually doing on the page, not just what they clicked. Are they hovering over a link or a map? Clicking on a concert location? That person is likely in-market for travel.

The challenge is: how do you engage them at that moment without taking up valuable ad space? That’s where contextual, non-intrusive tools come in. Whether it’s opening a relevant tab in the same session or surfacing an offer that fits the user’s action. Done right, it’s scalable and user-first.

You’ve already mentioned a few companies, but could you share three that publishers should consider for alternative monetization?

Andrew: Sure, and just to say upfront, I only advise companies I’ve used or would use as a publisher myself. I also never take commissions. That way, when I recommend something, people know it’s genuine.

One is Pushly. At Arena, we tested a lot of web push notification tools, but Pushly stood out. It became our single largest traffic driver outside of Google.

Another is Stay22, of course. What’s unique is how they analyze page content, detect intent, and then open a separate browser tab — no pop-ups, no extra ad slots — with travel offers or other relevant verticals. It’s subtle, contextual, and doesn’t compete with your stack.

The third is a group of AI-friendly content syndication platforms, like Particle, Dapper, and ProRata. They’re modern alternatives to the likes of MSN and SmartNews, helping publishers distribute content offsite and extend reach.

I'd also mention data tools like ArcSpan, which are doing smart work in decisioning and curation. 

The bigger point is: don’t just chase higher RPM on the page. Look at traffic generation, content syndication, real estate-free affiliate tools, that’s where new incremental revenue lives.

Any closing words?

Andrew: Yes, this is just the start. I’m planning a full series of interviews focused on off-page monetization. Almost everything I advise now is in that space. Decisioning, curation, intent, it’s all connected. Stay22 will be producing those, and I’m excited to share more insights that can help both publishers and tech providers find new value.