ad exchanger Talks Scruff Advertising Strategy

Ad news site ad exchanger has published a short feature on Scruff and its approach to advertising.

It claims that the app has a “love/hate relationship with programmatic advertising.”

Back in 2010, Scruff had a strategy for monetisation that was highly AdMob focused. More recently, however, it has benefitted from a subscription model and become less reliant on banners.

Eric Silverberg, CEO of Scruff, said he often found advertisers reluctant to place content on his site.

Brands can sometimes see the dating niche as an ‘unsafe’ space to advertise, as there is a high risk of explicit content becoming associated with a company.

A related issue was that Facebook barred Scruff from advertising. The ban came “without explanation” and proved impossible to overturn.

“There’s this 21st-century notion rooted in morality that anything gay is pornography,” Silverberg said.

“And in terms of the more traditional brands, all they’re doing when they wring their hands over the brand safety of dating apps is allowing direct-to-consumer brands to come in and clean up.”

Scruff now has more relationships with D2C advertisers, which they say helps them retain a higher revenue share and avoid having to request GDPR permissions.

“We see the direct ad business as an extension of our mission by creating an opportunity for gay-owned businesses out there that are sometimes denied an outlet to advertise what they do,” Silverberg noted.

Read more here.