Boost Engagement

On3 Deploys Mula AI Recommendations to Boost Engagement

On3, a sports publisher that reaches about 15 million unique monthly visitors and operates 70+ team fan pages, integrated a content-recommendation feed from Mula in Q3 2025 to stabilize engagement and revenue per session (RPS). Mula’s recommendation engine uses AI plus On3’s first‑party data to surface additional editorial content, ecommerce listings and vertical video across On3’s sites and via email to its 3 million readers. On3 has deployed Mula on roughly 20 sites and is evaluating mobile app and forum rollouts. Mula’s stack also includes integrations with EX.CO for video, Fanatics for team merchandise ecommerce (revenue share to On3) and RevContent for paid native listings that pay on a CPC basis. Both On3 and Mula say the system prioritizes RPS, placing ecommerce and high-engagement formats first and sending users to external publisher links when On3’s engagement window ends.

Publishers Bring On-Site Vertical Video to Boost Engagement

Publishers are turning to on-site vertical video to deepen audience relationships, using Media.net's new Bytes product as a back-end. Bytes provides an infrastructure for embedding scrollable vertical video feeds on open-web properties, plus content-creation and monetization tools. It can convert horizontal assets to vertical and can generate AI-created video summaries of articles, with editorial review before publishing. Publishers can place Bytes widgets at page edges, in navigation bars, or at article end, and can create their own playlists. Monetization remains a challenge since vertical video traffic is currently driven by walled gardens, but Bytes supports display, horizontal video, and native formats through existing SSPs. The company notes early signals that eCPMs for display ads are three to five times higher in this format due to deeper engagement. The BBC, New York Times, Bild, USA Today, Hearst, TIME, People, and Trusted Media Brands have begun pilots or live deployments.

Reddit Launches Playable Interactive Ads to Boost Engagement

Reddit has introduced a new Interactive Ads format — playable, embedable experiences (quizzes, mini‑games) that run directly in the user feed — intended to make brand messages feel native rather than interruptive. The unit is powered by Reddit’s Developer Platform and is currently in a limited alpha test with early pilots from Paramount (a movie-themed escape game for The Running Man) and Electronic Arts (a group mission tied to Battlefield). Reddit reported strong recent financials — quarterly revenue of $585 million (≈70% year‑over‑year growth) and more than 115 million daily active users — and plans a fuller rollout to managed advertisers in 2026. Reddit frames the format as a scaled, Reddit‑unique way to “earn attention,” joining an industry trend where players such as Amazon and Samsung are also experimenting with playable or participatory ad formats.