It is one of the only premium news outlets to refuse to work with oil and gas advertisers, and it has ambitious internal goals for reducing its own carbon footprint, which it tracks and publishes in its earnings reports.
As a result, it will have a “right to win” in the space, as affiliate experts say. However, it will be far from the only publisher using sustainability as a means of differentiation.
The Cool Down, a publisher launched by Bleacher Report cofounder Dave Finocchio, was specifically created to cover climate change and showcase products and services that consumers can use to minimize their carbon footprints.
Similarly, product review sites regularly compile lists of sustainable options. Items that last longer are often both good for the environment and attractive to value-minded consumers, creating a natural overlap.
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Diversifying revenue
The review arm will add yet another line of revenue to The Guardian’s overall business, which has already built a substantial reader revenue program to complement its advertising efforts.
Additionally, the advertising inventory alongside review sections can also function like retail media inventory, drawing heightened interest from marketers looking to reach consumers at the point of purchase.
And the new venture will help The Guardian diversify its editorial away from hard news—a theme that publishers like the Times have embraced as news consumption drops and advertisers skirt the category due to brand safety concerns.
In recent years, The Guardian has expanded beyond news into sports, health and wellness, games, and cooking. It launched Well Actually in late 2023 to capitalize on reader and advertiser interest in the wellness space, and it unveiled a slew of new soccer-focused editorial ventures to expand its presence in the sporting arena.
It recently launched a standalone application called Feast that hosts its food and drink content and costs $3.99 per month to access. It also recently expanded its games offerings, rolling out Wordiply in 2022, among a host of other products.
As hard news becomes an increasingly unappetizing space for brands, publishers will continue to expand beyond the sector into new categories and new lines of business.
