• by Melynda Fuller , September 26, 2018

Over the past year, the Washington Post’s Arc publishing platform has been picked up by a growing number of papers across the world.

Under the ownership of Jeff Bezos, the company has begun to position itself as a leader in publishing technology and news. and According to a Nieman Journalism Lab story, the company is planning to expand that new role.

Currently, Arc offers publishers a standardized way to publish their digital editions. However, the platform will soon allow clients to create an advertising and subscription network with new tools. 

The new offerings target advertising and audience in a bid to bring more revenue to Arc’s clients.

New technology dubbed Zeus, expected to begin testing in 2019, will allow Arc clients to take advantage of more effective header bidding, among other ad-network based incentives. 

According to Shailesh Prakash, Chief Product and Information Officer for WaPo, Zeus has already increased the newspaper's CPM ad rates by 30% because of speed, viewability and optimitizing programmatic bidding. He adds Arc is reading a “critical mass” of advertising markets across the country.

The company will also offer a paywall product to drive customers’ digital consumer revenue. Testing begins with a network of New Zealand papers at the end of September.

Prakash told Nieman the platform acts as “a CMS for subscription,” allowing publications to create customizable paywalls. It can be a special for Mother’s Day, funneling unmetered access from a specific site to the customer’s or “a sports paywall tighter than your opinion paywall.”

Prakash believes these options are ways for Arc’s customers to get more out of their audience and advertisers.

The evolution of Arc will allow the company to gain wider influence and amplify its own revenue streams.