Mail Online: ‘Why We’re Staying Free’

DMGT execs have been wooing shareholders at an investors day on Monday. We’re not there, but DMGT has published all its slides online – they show a publisher determined to eschew Times Online’s paid route by aggressively courting advertisers and eyeballs to remain largely free. Here are the key bullet points…

Bullishness:-

  • Half of Mail Online traffic is direct hits.
  • “Digital-only display ad revenues for MailOnline are currently up 131% year on year for financial ytd.”
  • Mail Online publisher Martin Clarke says he’s “gunning for the portals” and “attacking portals like MSN and Yahoo”.
  • Why the site is celeb-heavy: “Choice of content is heavily influenced by real-time minute-to-minute monitoring of reader activity