Latency: The Devastating Tax That Publishers Are Ignoring

Justin Choi Feb 17, 2020

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 'latency tax' described in the article?

The 'latency tax' refers to the hidden cost publishers pay when delays between content and ad loading harm viewability, degrade user experience (UX) and cause users to abandon pages—ultimately reducing advertising revenue and monetization opportunities.

How does latency affect publisher monetization?

Latency reduces ad viewability and causes layout shifts and poor UX. As advertisers rely on viewability metrics, lower viewability means less effective ads and fewer impressions that meet buyers’ standards, directly decreasing publisher revenue.

What are the three sub-taxes that make up the latency tax?

The article identifies three sub-taxes: low viewability (ads are not viewed long enough), poor user experience (layout shifts and slow loads), and user abandonment (readers leave sites due to delays).

Where was the article originally published and who wrote it?

The piece was originally published by Digital Content Next on February 17, 2020, and was written by Justin Choi, CEO of Nativo.

AI-Generated Summary70-80% of original length

Original Article

Digital Content Next | February 17, 2020 - Publishers today face a latency tax that affects every aspect of their business. The tax comes with three specific sub-taxes: low viewability, poor UX and user abandonment.

As advertisers increasingly rely on viewability metrics, latency will directly impact publisher monetization efforts. Almost all publishers experience several seconds of lag between content and ad load, causing shifting content that creates a negative UX. Bad UX and abandonment will generate fewer readers on publisher sites - and fewer monetization opportunities.

Nativo CEO Justin Choi expands on the publisher latency tax in his article, “Latency: the devastating tax that publishers are ignoring,” featured in Digital Content Next.