Lyll vs. Publishing Houses

Lyll allows you to publish ads 24/7 across 6,000 websites in 9 European countries. The alternative is spending your time negotiating with media companies.

You’ll quickly discover how easy it is to create ads and launch campaigns yourself with Lyll - all at a fair price. Our minimum budget is just €45, so there is no real barrier or risk in trying.

Many businesses assume advertising in online newspapers is too expensive and automatically exclude the channel from their marketing mix. At the same time, they know that news sites have a strong purchasing audience and that the channel strengthens their brand.

So how do we solve this?

Small and medium-sized businesses are frustrated by time-consuming negotiations and high prices from publishers. Many feel they waste valuable time contacting newspapers one by one.

Here, we compare Lyll with traditional media companies and show how you can save both time and money. Lyll gives you access to thousands of websites across 9 European countries - channels with significantly higher trust than social media.

Lyll vs. Publishers – When Does Each Fit?

Choosing between a self-service platform like Lyll and going directly to large media houses comes down to control, time, and budget.

Traditionally, companies have had to deal with sales representatives, long negotiations, and high entry costs to place ads in well-known news sites. This model still works for large enterprises.

SMBs operate differently, and the market is clearly moving toward more efficient, self-service solutions tailored to them. In fact, self-service platforms accounted for 28% of digital advertising in Europe in 2025 (European Advertising Bureau). These new solutions allow small and medium-sized businesses to compete with major brands on equal terms.

What Is Lyll?

Lyll is a platform designed to simplify how businesses buy advertising space on editorial websites.

We have removed the middlemen between you and the newspapers, making this attractive channel accessible to more advertisers. Instead of calling sales reps, you log in to Lyll for free, upload your material, and choose where your ads should appear.

The platform gives you immediate access to thousands of editorial news sites and digital magazines. You no longer need a large media agency or massive budgets. With Lyll, you get access to quality media with full freedom to manage campaigns yourself, anytime.

Major Publishing Houses in Europe

Across Europe, large publishing groups dominate national news markets.

In France, major players include:

• Groupe Le Monde (Le Monde, Télérama, Courrier International)
• Le Figaro Group (Le Figaro, Madame Figaro)
• Groupe Les Echos–Le Parisien

In Germany, key publishers include:

• Axel Springer (Bild, Welt)
• Südwestdeutsche Medienholding (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
• Funke Mediengruppe

In the United Kingdom, leading groups include:

• News UK (The Times, The Sun)
• DMG Media (Daily Mail, Mail Online)
• Reach plc (The Mirror, The Express, regional titles)
• The Guardian Media Group

In Spain you find:

• PRISA (El País, Cinco Días, AS)
• Unidad Editorial (El Mundo, Marca, Expansión)
• Vocento (ABC, regional titles)
• Godó Group (La Vanguardia)

These publishers have traditionally sold advertising through their own sales departments, often with negotiated pricing and higher minimum budgets.

At the same time, supporting trusted, independent journalism remains important. Advertising in editorial environments helps sustain quality reporting across Europe.

How Lyll Works

Lyll simplifies a buying process that often takes days of back-and-forth communication. The platform connects advertisers directly to a large network, removing the need to manage technical specifications from multiple publishers.

Step 1: Create Your Ad (Free)

Design your ad if you haven’t already.

• Upload creative assets (image/logo)
• Define your audience and budget

Step 2: Choose Placements Across 9 European Countries

Select where your ad should appear. You can handpick specific news sites, digital magazines, or industry publications - or choose contextual advertising. Your ad will then appear alongside relevant editorial content such as travel, food, politics, automotive, or business.

Brand safety is built in. You always know where your ad appears. It does not follow users to unsafe environments or content that could harm your brand.

Step 3: Launch and Optimize

After selecting geography and budget, click start. Once approved, your campaign goes live.

You can track results in real time in your dashboard.

How Direct Advertising with Publishers Works

Direct buying is the traditional approach. It involves manual work and personal contact and requires significantly more time and internal resources.

You cannot simply log in and edit an ad at night if you discover a mistake. All changes must go through a contact person.

Negotiating Price and Placement

Once in contact with a sales representative, negotiations begin. Media houses often operate with high list prices. Securing discounts requires larger budgets and negotiation skills.

You are often required to commit to a certain volume or time period. Pricing is rarely transparent before receiving a proposal, and it can be difficult to compare offers across publishers. Everyone receives different pricing.

You also don’t know how much of your budget goes to administration versus actual impressions.

Campaign Follow-Up

When campaigns go live, reports are typically sent via email as PDFs or Excel files. If you want to make adjustments, you must contact your sales representative and hope for a quick turnaround.

Comparison: Lyll vs. Publishers

The differences become clear:

Lyll

• Time to launch is Immediate
• Minimum budget is €45
• Reach over 6,000 websites and in 9 countries

Publisher

• Time to launch requires negotiation
• Minimum budget are often around €1,000+
• Reach only on own publications

Lyll offers equal pricing for all, speed, and independence. Direct buying often focuses on customization and long-term relationships for large advertisers.

Reach and Flexibility

Media houses are experts on their own inventory but what if your customers also read local newspapers outside that group..?

Lyll provides access across ownership structures. You can advertise in a major national newspaper and a small local publication within the same campaign - without coordinating multiple sales teams.

That level of flexibility is difficult to achieve manually.

Test, Learn, and Optimize

Regardless of approach, certain principles apply when advertising in online newspapers.

Readers are there for news, not ads. Your advertising must add value.

To maximize results:

• Use native ads aligned with relevant editorial content
• Always optimize for mobile (70–80% of traffic comes from smaller screens)
• A/B test headlines to identify what drives the most clicks

A Sustainable Way to Advertise

Editorial media is built on trust and remains a vital part of the European media landscape. Lyll makes this channel accessible to more businesses in a simple, transparent, and cost-efficient way.

Regardless of how you prefer to buy advertising, we encourage you to allocate part of your marketing budget to trusted media houses — supporting independent and investigative journalism that benefits us all.