Fewer logins, more leverage: How adops.com helped a global publisher simplify ad operations and unlock newsletter revenue

Author: Hazel Broadley + Travis Ayer, Director of Business Development at adops.com

Elsevier boasts a global portfolio of scientific and medical brands. That reach brings scale, but it also brings complexity: multiple audiences, markets, and workflows that all need to run smoothly. Over time, that complexity had quietly turned into operational sprawl - and a lot of unnecessary effort behind the scenes. 

The challenge wasn’t growth itself, but how to support it sustainably, without stretching an already lean in-house team. In this conversation, Hazel Broadley speaks with Travis Ayer, Director of Business Development at adops.com, to find out how Elsevier approached consolidation, made email advertising workable within existing tools, and created flexible support for peak workloads - without adding headcount.

Hazel: What first prompted Elsevier to step back and rethink their ad operations setup?

Travis: The big issue was fragmentation. Elsevier had built up several AM360 networks to support different regional needs, but at a global level, this created a lot of friction. Teams were constantly switching contexts, duplicating setup work, and trying to piece together reports from systems that were never designed to work as one.

At the same time, the ad operations team was already stretched during peak periods, so any attempt to streamline platforms, or add new channels, risked creating significant bottlenecks. The priority was to remove that operational drag while still leaving room to grow.

Hazel: Consolidating ad server networks can get messy. What did “doing it properly” look like in practice?

Travis: I would say it was a controlled cleanup rather than a quick switch. We brought multiple AM360 networks into a single setup, removed duplicate placements, made key settings consistent, and then tested delivery across core templates to make sure campaigns continued to run as expected. Today, trafficking and reporting happen in one place, so the ops team spend less time hunting for information, and more time executing. It also removes the need to stitch together reports from disconnected systems, which reduces data errors and gaps.

Hazel: How do you give publishers access to frequent support without locking them into another fixed cost?

Travis: So for publishers like Elsevier, we offer an hours-based support model, which means they can draw on specialist help when they need it - for migrations, troubleshooting, QA, overflow trafficking, or holiday cover - and scale back when internal capacity allows.

That flexibility matters for small ad ops teams inside large businesses. You avoid long hiring cycles or paying for idle capacity. But you also get access to people who spend every day solving similar problems across different publishers, which speeds up decision-making when something new lands on your desk.

Hazel: Newsletters are a growing revenue opportunity, but the mechanics can be tricky. How has Elsevier made email advertising work?

Travis: Email is one of those channels where demand exists, but the tooling hasn’t always caught up. Most major platforms don’t natively support ad serving in email, and publishers are often left searching for a workaround. Elsevier needed a reliable way to traffic and measure newsletter ads without breaking email rendering or forcing editors to change how they work.

The solution was to adapt their existing ad-serving infrastructure - in this case, by layering in our Email Ad Connector (EAC), which allows you to manage newsletter placements through AM360 by packaging tags in email-friendly HTML. This meant newsletter placements could be managed and reported alongside everything else, while still rendering correctly in email clients. Once that was in place, newsletters became a viable commercial channel that could attract both direct and programmatic demand without adding operational overhead.

Hazel: From your perspective, what are the key features or benefits that your publishers realize when they outsource parts of ad operations?

Travis: The main benefits tend to show up in everyday work. Fewer systems to manage, fewer overlapping fees, clearer reporting, and simpler finance reconciliation all make a real difference. In Elsevier’s case, consolidating into a single setup also helped reduce ad-serving costs.

The other outcome is gaining the confidence to grow. Elsevier’s team describes us as a “safety net” - not just for execution, but for decision-making. So as I mentioned earlier, when they ask, “Can we do this?”, we can advise them based on what’s already working with other publishers, rather than guesswork.

Hazel: What would your advice be for similar publishers looking for support in streamlining their ops? 

Travis: My advice would be to start with consolidation: get the foundations stable first, then add new revenue channels on top. And make sure you’re comfortable with the partnership model, in terms of pricing and flexibility, so you can scale support up or down as you need. Those are all things a trusted ad ops partner should be able to provide.

How operational clarity enabled growth

Elsevier’s progress didn’t come from adopting a flashy new tech stack. It came from getting the fundamentals under control - simplifying ad operations, making newsletter advertising workable, and creating elastic support for peak periods. That combination gave the internal team space to focus on strategy instead of firefighting, and to grow revenue without adding headcount. To learn more about how to simplify your ad ops setup without overwhelming your team, check out the full case study here.