Earlier this summer, we reaffirmed our mission to build a healthier web and create safer spaces for free expression and civil discourse online. As we work towards this goal, our team is constantly innovating and enhancing how our technology fits within the ecosystem. We know that not only must we aid publishers in moderating conversations and activating users, but that we’re also responsible for ensuring the content we help monetize lives up to our standards.
Our goals are ambitious, and with the online world changing rapidly, we know that we can’t always accomplish our goals alone.
Last month, we announced that we’d be working with third-party experts to enrich our ability to tackle this goal, with one of our key partners being the Global Disinformation Index. Today, we’re excited to share some initial results from our partnership and shed some additional light on how, with GDI’s support, we are doing our part to further combat disinformation online.
Following our initial termination of 13 publisher partners, our team worked closely with the experts at GDI to examine our current roster of partners and their domains to identify any that don’t meet our updated publisher standards.
After conducting an audit with GDI’s tools, we’ve flagged 50 total domains that OpenWeb will terminate our relationship with by the end of August 2021. This, however, is not the end: our evaluation of existing and prospective partners will be an ongoing process. This list should not be considered final, but one that is evolving as we continue to regularly audit our partner base.
To put these actions into perspective, these partnerships equate to nearly $500,000 in revenue. We see this as a small price to pay to better live up to the promise of our mission.
Our agreements differ from publisher to publisher. That’s why a few weeks ago we were able to immediately terminate relations with some domains, while others remained live for a few weeks longer. This is also why you might still see our products on certain domains for the next few days and weeks, but rest assured that the work is being done.
As we continue our endeavour in supporting a healthier web and creating a less toxic online environment, we encourage our users, our partners, and the public to continue to raise any issues they might see. We are fortunate to have partners that share this sense of responsibility, like GDI.
Here’s to a better, less toxic, web.
– The OpenWeb Team
A note on enforcement: If we believe a publisher has violated our policy, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate our engagement with such publisher at our discretion and in accordance with our agreement. If we have terminated your agreement with OpenWeb and you believe such termination was done in error, please contact your former Partner Success Manager, or contact OpenWeb through our contact form.
