It’s been a bone of content for some time—the word “premium” as it relates to “content” and how “premium” is brandished by just about every single publisher and other players in ad tech land. I would have said “ecosystem”. Oops, I just did. Now there’s a word that’s also been beaten to death.

If all publishers offer “premium” content and all marketers want to advertise against “premium” content, does that make all content “premium”? No, of course not. Everyone has a different definition of “premium.”

In some circles, “premium” suggests that some advertising inventory is higher quality (larger, more interactive ad units, and higher CPMs on those units) and not all audiences are the same. Readers of the New York Times are different from readers of Bleacher Report. Or, maybe not. 

My elementary sense is that “premium” publishers charge higher CPMs on larger and more innovative ad units and their brand cachet, advertisers, and readers fit a certain demographic, if not psychographic profile. “Premium” also connotes “trust” and “quality” in the advertising/ad tech/publishing business—and now those two words are also loaded....

Via Jeff Domansky, massimo facchinetti