Publishers rely on Facebook at their own peril
Publishers overwhelmingly cite video as the biggest trend in digital media today, and video makes them even more dependent on Facebook, according to Mixpo. "While social distribution helps publishers grow mobile [video] traffic, and perhaps even exposes their content to new audiences, it has also left publishers vulnerable and eliminated significant money-making opportunities," Mixpo wrote in the report.
Video is the fastest growing ad format in digital media, and Facebook video ads are a top priority for publishers, with 36 percent saying they use or plan to use the format this year, according to the report. Advertisers will spend almost $10 billion on digital video ads this year, marking a 28 percent increase from 2015, according to eMarketer.
"The gap between advertiser demand for video ads and publisher supply of video inventory is notable," Mixpo wrote in the report. "This seller's market has made video a valuable ad product for publishers, but it has also created pressure to find new ways to deliver video and take full advantage of 2016's video boom."
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While publishers are increasingly anxious about Facebook's power over them, 24.3 percent still use or plan to use the company's mobile-app ads. Almost 23 percent expect to use link ads, 22.1 percent have plans to use "page like" ads, and 20.9 percent use or plan to use photo ads, according to Mixpo.
Finally, while Facebook's Instant Articles, which load in users' News Feeds up to 10 times faster than standard web articles, may help, publishers are skeptical. "While the improved user experience of Instant Articles sounds compelling, publishers are wary of becoming dependent on third-party platforms that define how their content is monetized," Mixpo wrote. Only 13.6 percent of the publishers surveyed by Mixpo say they use or plan to use Instant Articles.