Publishers' Newest Revenue Scheme: Monetized Gift Guides

With every ad dollar a struggle to come by, publishers are trying to tap into e-commerce. But while many have found e-commerce hard to pull off, an increasing number are finding there’s money to be made in shoppable gift guides.   Skimlinks manages e-commerce for publishers including Gawker, IGN and Business Insider. Across its 2,000 larger publisher clients, users spent an average of $132 amount this past Black Friday, up from $104 in 2014, and three times the average transaction size for all of October. That’s gone up because publishers have put an increased focus on gift guides and monetizing content in general, said Alicia Navarro, Skimlinks co-founder.