The partnership between PinkNews and OpenWeb is driving robust first-party data collection and enhancing civil reader interactions.
PinkNews, a leading LGBTQ+ news and entertainment platform, partnered with OpenWeb to create a safer, more engaging space for its audience. Together, they are driving deeper user engagement while building robust first-party data.
Through this collaboration, PinkNews is reaffirming its commitment to cultivating a supportive and respectful environment for its readers and strategically expanding its loyal user base. In today’s digital media landscape, publishers must focus on understanding and growing their audience.
“Our partnership with OpenWeb has empowered us to build an engaged and loyal readership—a key part of our growth strategy,” explains Sarah Watson, Chief Product Officer of PinkNews.
OpenWeb’s scalable content moderation technology has enabled PinkNews to expand its commenting feature to all visitors, resulting in a 200% increase in new registrations — a significant shift from its previous policy of limiting comments to paid subscribers.
In an AdMonsters exclusive interview, Watson highlights how important it is to listen to your consumer base.
Andrew Byrd: Can you share more about the strategic decision behind partnering with OpenWeb and how it aligns with PinkNews’ overall growth and community engagement goals? 
Sarah Watson: PinkNews has an incredibly vast and loyal user base across its various owned and operated platforms and social channels. Therefore, it was important for us to create a sense of community on our site.
In the past, we’ve enabled our readers to comment on articles and engage with one another, but maintaining a safe environment and keeping conversations civil with man-power alone became more and more of a challenge. By partnering with OpenWeb, we were able to relaunch commenting capabilities and reestablish open discussion and debate on topics and articles that our audience is passionate about. OpenWeb removed the heavy lifting of content moderation, enabling us to spend more time doing more exciting things, like analyzing discussion topics for future articles, joining conversations, and being entertained by our passionate readers.
AB: How has integrating OpenWeb’s AI-powered community experiences transformed how PinkNews engages with its readers?
SW: Given the incredibly high engagement levels we see across our social platforms, we were keen to create a safe space for our readers to interact with one another on the website and apps. Partnering with OpenWeb has helped us cultivate meaningful user engagement, boosting key metrics such as time spent on site, page views, and user lifetime value.
AB: Given that comments were previously limited to paid subscribers, what impact have you seen from opening comments to all visitors, especially regarding user engagement and loyalty?
SW: In a recent Reader Survey, which we run regularly, our readers already told us they were keen for comments to be released from the paywall.
They spoke, we listened, and we’re glad we did, as we saw an instant spike in registrations, and engagement with comments has continued to grow WoW ever since.
AB: Building robust first-party data is crucial for publishers. How is this partnership helping PinkNews enhance its first-party data collection, and what benefits are you seeing from this data?
SW: At PinkNews, several features are currently available to readers registering an account with us. These include a hand-curated daily newsletter, the ability to save articles, and now commenting. Our ethos is to only ask for data from our readers if we give something back in return, and the data we collect is minimal.
We want to create a unique and engaging experience for every reader, so by knowing a bit more about them, we can curate our content to suit them and engage with brands that are looking to target specific audiences with specific brand affinities or characteristics.
AB: Could you elaborate on the 200% increase in new registrations since partnering with OpenWeb? What factors have driven this surge, and how do you plan to sustain it?
SW: We have a highly engaged and loyal community, and we could see from our social channels that people were keen to start healthy discussions with one another. By removing the paywall from comments, we saw an instant surge in usage as there was no longer a barrier to entry. The registration process is very simple and straightforward, and there are no limits on how many times people can comment. All we ask for is that our readers keep things civil.
AB: What specific challenges has PinkNews faced in fostering healthy conversations online, and how does OpenWeb help you overcome these challenges?
SW: PinkNews is not alone when it comes to facing moderation challenges. The vast majority of our audience wants to share opinions and have civilized discussions. Still, there’s a small subset of people and a large number of bots who see an open commenting field as an opportunity to spread misinformation and hate speech.
Through our partnership with OpenWeb, we are using technology to help us differentiate those individuals (whether human or bot) so that we can create a sense of community without alienating or upsetting our loyal readers.
AB: How do you see the partnership with OpenWeb evolving, and what future initiatives or goals do you hope to achieve together?
SW: Our partnership with OpenWeb has empowered us to build an engaged and loyal readership—a key part of our growth strategy. Thanks to their moderation technology, we’ve opened our comments to all users while ensuring conversation remains respectful and productive.
OpenWeb has a number of other initiatives that we’re keen to explore, which align with our goal of continuing to engage our readers and encourage repeat visits to our website and apps.