{"id":5119,"date":"2026-10-11T00:26:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T00:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5119"},"modified":"2026-10-11T02:42:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T02:42:27","slug":"gocop-conference-key-practical-tips-to-monetise-online-publishing-by-ashibogwu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5119","title":{"rendered":"GOCOP Conference: Key practical tips to monetise online publishing, by Ashibogwu"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>*<strong><em>Dr. Monday Ashibogwu, CEO of Billsbox Services Limited and Publisher, Quick News Africa, presents a paper on monetisation of digital media business, during the training session at the recent 10th Annual General Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, in Lagos<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect<\/p>\n<p>The 10th Annual General Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) held October 7 -8, 2026, witnessed more empowerment of members through specialised trainings.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Monday Ashibogwu, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Billsbox Services Limited and Publisher, Quick News Africa, presented one of such training sessions, titled, &#8220;Monetisation of Digital Media Business; Earning Beyond Advertising and Sponsored Content&#8221;, at Radisson Blu, in Ikeja, Lagos State.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"jEL9uuN0tz\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5098\">Travellers lament, urge NCAA to sanction Air Peace, United Nigeria, ValueJet over frequent flight delays, cancellations<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cTravellers lament, urge NCAA to sanction Air Peace, United Nigeria, ValueJet over frequent flight delays, cancellations\u201d \u2014 Consumer Experience Is A Top Priority\" src=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5098&amp;embed=true#?secret=0mmuVZb9qL#?secret=jEL9uuN0tz\" data-secret=\"jEL9uuN0tz\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Ashibogwu, in his lecture, alerted publishers that advertising built on pageviews was getting weak as audiences have moved to other platforms.<\/p>\n<p>He attributed the recent trend to the increased use of search and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to answer readers before they reach a publisher\u2019s Web site.<\/p>\n<p>He, however, argued that Nigerian online publishers hold an asset that advertising undervalues, which he named as unusually high audience trust, adding that the task is to convert this trust into income.<\/p>\n<p>The publisher of Quick News Africa also examined six non-advertising revenue streams (membership, events, training, data and intelligence, licensing, and products and services) through global, African and Nigerian cases.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to him, two years ago, GOCOP was keen to learn about publisher revenue, saying there is now a worrying shift.<\/p>\n<p>Ashibogwu stated: \u201cFirst, audiences are leaving the publishers\u2019 front doors, as confirmed by the Reuters Institute\u2019s Digital News Report 2026, which surveyed nearly 100,000 people in 48 markets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe next is that the traffic publishers relied on is thinning.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He further said analytics covering over 2,500 news sites showed that referrals from Google search fell by a third worldwide between November 2024 and November 2025. Publishers expect a further fall of 43 perpcent within three years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The third, he said, is that money follows the audience; hence, an advertising model built on pageviews cannot hold when the pageview is captured by a platform, or when an Artificial Intelligence summary answers the reader before that reader ever reaches the publisher&#8217;s Web page.<\/p>\n<p>He referenced a warning by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) of a possible media collapse. He said Nigeria feels the decline in the industry seriously.<\/p>\n<p>Ashibogwu as well options, one of which he mentioned as reader revenue through membership, mentioning a foreign newspaper that has 1.4 million readership membership, earning over 126 million Pounds in the year ending March 2026.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, \u2018events and convening power\u2019 is another prosperous stream of revenue available to publishers.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Ashibogwu said: \u201cThe calendar is on our side. With the 2027 General Elections approaching, there is a ready demand for candidate debates, policy dialogues and town halls at state level.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A credible online publisher is well placed to host them, on one condition: every participant is charged on the same published terms, so that the platform is never for sale to one side.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He mentioned stream four as training and service services, while stream five is data, research, and intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>The Publisher of Quick News Africa also reminded colleagues that have covered beats over the years to note that they were sitting on data mines.<\/p>\n<p>On licensing and collective bargaining, he raised an alarm, saying some other entities were using content by Nigerian publishers to make their own money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn July this year, following a joint petition by the Nigerian Press Organisation, of which GOCOP is a member, the President directed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to investigate how Meta, Alphabet, X and the generative AI companies use Nigerian news content.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should not wait for the outcome before we prepare.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We need agreed data on our traffic, our archives, and our costs, and a fair formula for sharing whatever is won among 127 members, large and small.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ashibogwu mentioned products, services, and commerce.<\/p>\n<p>Offering some solutions, he nevertheless asked how a publisher with staff and a tight payroll begins.<\/p>\n<p>First, he urged publishers to own their audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA follower on a platform is borrowed. The Continent, a Pan-African weekly, built its readership by delivering a newspaper directly on WhatsApp,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Ashibogwu added: \u201cStart a newsletter and a WhatsApp channel this month, and comply with the Nigeria Data Protection Act as you collect.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Next, choose a niche. General news is a commodity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReaders and clients pay the publisher who knows one sector, one state or one community better than anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He equally stated: \u201cStart with one stream, not six. Pick the one closest to what you already do well, run it for 90 days, and measure it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Protect the newsroom. Every one of these streams creates a customer who may one day be the subject of a story.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ashibogwu said: &#8220;Our trust rating is the asset behind all six streams. If we spend it, we have nothing left to sell.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Give revenue an owner. Income that is everybody\u2019s job becomes nobody\u2019s job.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The expert told members that the advertising era taught the publishers to count visitors to their sites, but that \u201cthe next era will reward those who count relationships: members, delegates, trainees, clients and licensees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The publisher said: \u201cIndustry forecasts cited by the Reuters Institute put Nigeria\u2019s media market at about $540 million by 2029, roughly half of it digital.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The question is how much of that will reach the people in this room (conference).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ashibogwu recommended that each publisher leave the conference with one new stream and a 90-day test.<\/p>\n<p>He also recommended to the Guild to constitute a standing committee on revenue and licensing, so that when the regulator\u2019s work is done, members could come to the table ready to negotiate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have the trust of the audience. Let us now build the business that trust deserves,\u201d Ashibogwu added.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Malachy Agbo, founding President of GOCOP and Enugu State Honourable Commissioner for Information, at the 10th Annual Conference in Lagos, applauded the progress the Guild has made in the last decade.<\/p>\n<p>Agbo expressed joy at growth and influence of GOCOP.<\/p>\n<p>He also said the desire of the founding fathers of the Guild was to promote credible digital journalism, and to sanitise it because online media is emerging, and some people complained about the proliferation of online media among other issues.<\/p>\n<p>He said he and earlier leaders of the Guild, including the late former GOCOP President, Dotun Oladipo, wanted anybody who joined GOCOP to understand the burden of truth and credibility.<\/p>\n<p>The Enugu State Commissioner for Information said he was also happy that GOCOP of today is still upholding the philosophy of credible journalism from him (Agbo) to Mojeed Musikilu to late Oladipo to Dr. Maureen Chigbo and now Danlami Nmodu, mni.<\/p>\n<p>Agbo later offered some pieces of strategic advice on how to sustain the spirit and progress of the Guild in the years ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*Dr. Monday Ashibogwu, CEO of Billsbox Services Limited and Publisher, Quick News Africa, presents a paper on monetisation of digital media business, during the training&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Dr. Monday Ashibogwu, Group CEO, Billsbox Services Limited and Publisher, Quick News Africa, Presenting His Paper Titled, 'Monetisation of Digital Media Business; Earning Beyond Advertising and Sponsored Content', at GOCOP Annual Conference held on Tuesday, October 7, 2026, in Lagos","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_customify_content_layout":"","_customify_sidebar":"","_customify_page_header_display":"default","_customify_disable_header":"","_customify_disable_header_top":"","_customify_disable_header_main":"","_customify_disable_header_bottom":"","_customify_disable_page_title":"","_customify_disable_content_vertical_padding":"","_customify_disable_footer_top":"","_customify_disable_footer_main":"","_customify_disable_footer_bottom":"","_customify_breadcrumb_display":"","_customify_header_transparent_display":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","category-infoeducation","category-markets"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_9464-scaled2.jpg",1489,918,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_9464-scaled2-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_9464-scaled2-300x185.jpg",300,185,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_9464-scaled2-768x473.jpg",768,473,true],"large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_9464-scaled2-1024x631.jpg",843,519,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_9464-scaled2.jpg",1489,918,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_9464-scaled2.jpg",1489,918,false]},"author_info":{"info":["ConsumerConnect"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=20\" rel=\"category\">Highlights<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=3\" rel=\"category\">InfoEducation<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=4\" rel=\"category\">Markets<\/a>","tag_info":"Markets","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5119"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5148,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5119\/revisions\/5148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}