As third-party cookies continue to diminish, high quality first-party audience segments will only become more necessary to advertisers for their marketing outcomes. At Freestar, we are working with audience data segments in several different ways, but one thing is sure. We are able to create, target and activate on the majority of audience segments.
What Does This Mean For You?
More money in your pocket! The value of each and every campaign using audience segments is higher than those of the open market. We are excited to bring you the opportunity to drive incremental revenue through your audience segments.
Audience Segment FAQs
When did Freestar start monetizing audience segments?
We first launched our audience monetization program with Audigent in May 2024, and since then, over $200,000 incremental dollars have come back to Freestar publishers.
Since then, we’ve also partnered with Magnite Audiences, Optable, Triplelift, Liveramp, and Google Curation to package up and sell first-party audience segments - all in a privacy-compliant way. Audience curation revenue generated via these paths will result in increased CPMs in those environments.
Do I need to do any code or website changes to be eligible for audience segments?
Nope! Your current Freestar integration makes your audience segments available to the buy-side with these vendors in a privacy-compliant manner.
Do I need to opt in?
You are automatically eligible and opted in, no action is needed on your part. You can opt out at any time by telling your Customer Support Manager or by emailing advertising@freestar.com.
What happens if I opt out?
If you want to pass on the incremental revenue from this program, that's ok! Your domain, users and ad inventory will be removed from the curation marketplaces and programs associated with these premium ad campaigns.
How successful will my site be with audience segmentation?
Although all Freestar web publishers are eligible, there are multiple factors to consider from the buy side. Audience size, brand recognition and website quality all impact an advertiser’s interest in purchasing. There is a strong correlation between these factors and performance.
If you’d like to meet with a Freestar audience team member on how to increase brand recognition, improve quality or UX, in hopes of making more revenue from this program, we’d love to connect!
Can our direct sales team sell these audience segments?
Yes! If you know (or want to know) which segments are most applicable to your audience, reach out to your Customer Support Manager or email advertising@freestar.com and we can create segments for your domain that you can then use in your go-to-market strategy.
Does our privacy policy need to be updated?
You are not required to update your privacy policy specifically for these vendors, however you should already have included the permitted Freestar language referencing our universal policy. Privacy policies should have broader language addressing data and site monetization. There should also be ways for users to adjust settings, standard consent options and opt out links.
But make sure in your privacy policy, you’ve added the following language:
“This Site is affiliated with Freestar for the purposes of placing advertising on the Site, and Freestar will collect and use certain data for advertising purposes. To learn more about Freestar’s data usage, click here”
Do these vendors collect, store or facilitate the publisher’s data or PII?
They do collect, store, and facilitate 1st party data, but not PII unless it’s specifically being sent to them through our HEM solution. Freestar does not store hashed email addresses.
Can publishers see the advertisers who purchase their inventory?
Yes! While the long term plan is to get this data into the Freestar dashboard, right now just ask your Customer Support Manager.
How does payment work?
There is no fee to be included in audience segments! You will get paid your typical programmatic rev share on any incremental revenue that is generated. These dollars will be included in your monthly Freestar payment.
How does reporting work?
Incremental revenue from audience segmentation will be included in your monthly invoice as a separate line item. Should you want to see a more detailed report, we can provide.
How will this impact my users /audiences?
Your users will have a better ad quality experience because of this program! There is no added latency or front-end changes for users based on audience segments.
What's Next