Category exclusivity

A commitment that the publisher will not run a competitor's ad for an agreed period.

The most valuable thing many publishers can sell and the least often listed. For an advertiser in a crowded category, being the only one of their kind in a trusted publication for a quarter is worth more than three times the impressions elsewhere.

Exclusivity needs its category defined narrowly and its period defined exactly. "No competitors" is unenforceable; "no other project-management software for 30 days from publication" is a term.

Terms it depends on

Share of voice
The proportion of available ad slots in a property or issue that one advertiser holds.
Insertion order
The signed document that fixes what will run, where, when, at what price, and what happens if it does not.
Flat fee
One price for one placement — a newsletter send, a sponsored post, a podcast read — regardless of how it performs.

All 29 terms · What these things cost