The Guardian is preparing to launch a product recommendation vertical on its website this summer. Its core point of differentiation will be its focus on sustainability, according to a person familiar with the project.
A job listing associated with the new, unnamed venture describes it as a means to guide Guardian readers toward sustainable options and help them use their products better and for longer.
A representative for The Guardian confirmed the new venture.
“This summer, The Guardian is launching a trusted recommendations section on our website, helping our readers to make more informed, more sustainable consumer choices,” said the spokesperson. “For our readers, this will be a home for The Guardian’s consumer journalism, and our reviews and features will always be editorially independent. We are initially launching in the U.K., with other territories to follow.”
The media outlet‘s new product will place The Guardian more prominently in the product review and recommendation space, which could expand the revenue it generates from affiliate links. Similar ventures, such as The New York Times’ Wirecutter and The Wall Street Journal’s Buy Side, enable publishers to leverage the trust they have with their audience into a new line of business.
Differentiation through sustainability
The new vertical’s focus on sustainability could help it navigate two of the core challenges that newcomers to the affiliate space face: differentiation and relevance.
During the pandemic, as more shopping moved online, publishers flooded the space in hopes of generating affiliate revenue. The resulting glut saturated the ecosystem, making it challenging for publishers to differentiate their review offerings from competitors.
In response, outlets have worked to emphasize what distinguishes their product review offerings from their competition. Some have led with the rigor of their testing, while others have pointed to their history in the space or served a highly specific niche.
The Guardian, in focusing on sustainable products, will look to cast that point of view as what distinguishes it from its competitive set. The publisher has long cultivated a reputation as an environmentally minded outlet.
