Selling sponsored features as a publisher: 6 marketplaces and agencies that bring advertisers

What to take away

Why is the money worth chasing?

UK digital advertising keeps growing, but most of it flows elsewhere. IAB UK's Digital Adspend 2025 study, published in March 2026, put the market at £40.5bn, up 10%. Search took £17.9bn, a 44% share, and social took £11.5bn, or 28%.

The same study forecasts £44.7bn for 2026. A magazine site will not take much of that from search or social. A sponsored feature is different: it sells the title's audience, voice and trust, which a platform cannot copy. That is the case to make to an advertiser.

What rules apply before you sell anything?

The Advertising Standards Authority's advice on advertisement features says the CAP Code names "Advertisement Feature" as a suitable label. "Ad" or "Advertising" are likely acceptable when shown prominently up front. The ASA generally advises against "sponsored" on its own, because readers interpret it in different ways.

Labelling is shared between the publisher and the marketer, so write your own rule down. Links inside a paid feature should be marked as paid too. Your editorial code still applies, and our note on IPSO rulings for magazine editors covers how the Editors' Code shapes editorial decisions.

How were the six chosen?

Each is a real company whose own website offers publishers a way to sell paid content or advertising, either as a marketplace that brings advertisers or as a sales partner that sells for you. Facts come from each company's site. Fees appear only where published.

Step 1: Write the rate card and the label rule

Decide what a sponsored feature includes: word count, images, links, how long it stays live, and whether it appears in print, online or both. Fix the label wording from the ASA advice above. Our guide to what a media kit must contain covers the audience figures advertisers will ask for first.

Pick audience numbers you can defend. The comparison of magazine audience metrics explains the difference between circulation, reach and engagement, and which ones a buyer can check.

Step 2: List with marketplaces that bring advertisers

WhitePress

WhitePress, registered in London, lets publishers add a site, set their own prices and decline offers that do not suit them. It reports 17,000 publishers and more than 30,000 advertisers over the years. Payment arrives within one business day of receiving your invoice.

Getfluence

Getfluence asks publishers to add an offer with the site address, content categories and pricing packs. Moderation takes up to 14 business days. Earnings are secured when an order is placed and released once publication is validated, and payment is issued between the 10th and 15th of the month after you request a withdrawal.

PRNEWS.IO

PRNEWS.IO lets publishers set their own price. Brands pay in advance, and the publisher is paid after the content is published and accepted. You can view each article, with images and links, before deciding to accept or reject it. Its criteria exclude sites it judges to be link farms.

Adsy

Adsy, based in Delaware, reviews each site before publishers can set prices and categories. Accepting a task reserves the funds. After publishing, you send the address, and the money is released on client approval or automatically after 14 days. Withdrawals go via PayPal with a 7.9% commission, of which 3.9% goes to Adsy.

Step 3: Hand selling to a sales partner

Square7 Media

Square7 Media calls itself a specialist advertising sales and publishing partner for membership, customer, charity and subscription titles. It reports 23 client magazines, with advertising sold for 21 of them. It also offers editorial and content marketing across magazines, newsletters and digital.

The Magazine Production Company

The Magazine Production Company, with a studio in Shoreham-by-Sea, offers advertising support as an extension of your team. That covers special projects, display space and sponsorships, from prospecting to signed order. It works on a retainer basis rather than commission only.

Step 4: Check the copy before it runs

A marketplace order is still copy under your masthead. Run it through your normal editorial workflow, check claims as you would a feature, and apply the house style. Our guide on how magazines fact-check an article works for advertiser copy too.

Refuse copy that would need rewriting to meet your rules. Every platform above lets you decline or reject, so use that right.

Step 5: Publish, get paid and report back

Publish with the label you agreed, send the advertiser the live address and keep a record of the date. Then plan the next slot. Placing features in your issue planning calendar stops paid content crowding out editorial in busy months.

Fees are shown where published.

Common questions

Can a print magazine use these marketplaces?

The marketplaces are built around websites. A print title with a website can list the site and sell print features directly, or through a sales partner.

Should every feature carry the same label?

Yes. One label used every time is easier for readers to recognise and easier to defend if a complaint comes in.