Mediavine Elevates Publisher Advocacy to a Strategic Priority, Taps Cyd Converse to Lead the Charge

New role puts publisher insight directly into Mediavine's product and business strategy as AI search and algorithm volatility reshape the publishing landscape

NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mediavine, the largest exclusive independent full-service ad management company representing and monetizing more than 18,000 publisher partner websites, today announced the appointment of Cyd Converse to the newly created role of Director of Publisher Advocacy & Partnerships. In this role, Converse will connect Mediavine’s publisher partners directly with the company’s product, programs, and business strategy teams, ensuring that publishers’ experiences and insights help shape what Mediavine builds next.

Mediavine created the role as part of its continued investment in publisher success, with a focus on developing the partnerships and programs that help publishers thrive as the digital ecosystem undergoes rapid change. According to Chartbeat, page views from Google Search and Google Discover, two of the largest traffic sources for publishers globally, fell 34% and 15%, respectively, from December 2024 to December 2025.

The shift reflects an industry-wide transformation in how audiences discover and engage with content. As traffic acquisition, SEO, and discovery patterns fundamentally change, publishers need proactive, strategic advocacy to help navigate what’s ahead, not reactive guidance after the fact.

Converse's primary responsibilities and key initiatives include:

• Serving as a voice and strategic advocate for Mediavine's publisher community, bringing publisher perspectives, feedback, and on-the-ground insights directly into company strategy and partner initiatives.
• Leading Mediavine's publisher-focused partnership strategy across hosting, social media, SEO/GEO, email marketing, legal, hiring, education, and other operational services that publishers need to grow and succeed.
• Partnering with Product and Engineering on publisher-focused integrations, tools, and beta programs, ensuring publisher needs and feedback help inform product innovation and development.
• Overseeing Mediavine's social impact programs, including Uplift, its diversity advertising marketplace, and Shine, its PSA initiative.
  
  

“Independent publishing is evolving faster than ever. AI is reshaping how audiences discover content, monetization continues to evolve, and the challenges publishers face tomorrow won't look the same as they do today. That's why keeping publishers at the center of our strategy has never been more important.” said Amanda Martin, Chief Revenue Officer at Mediavine. “Cyd has spent years championing publishers, and she'll help ensure their needs continue to shape the products we build, the partnerships we pursue, and the investments we make. Keeping publishers at the center of every decision isn't just part of our philosophy, it's how we'll continue building for the future.”

Converse brings a rare, practitioner-rooted perspective to the role. Before joining Mediavine six years ago, she founded The Sweetest Occasion, an entertaining and lifestyle site recognized by Better Homes & Gardens and SAVEUR as a top entertaining blog. Her work has been featured by People, House Beautiful, Martha Stewart, The Today Show and Every Day with Rachael Ray, and her nearly two decades of experience as an independent publisher and editor give her firsthand insight into the challenges and opportunities facing the businesses she now supports.

Converse steps into the role after most recently serving as Executive Director of Social Impact, where she drove the development and scaling of Mediavine's social impact programs. In that role, she led Uplift, which expands access to programmatic advertising opportunities for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, women, veterans and disabled publishers, as well as Shine, which connects publishers with nonprofit organizations supporting meaningful causes. Uplift has generated more than 163 billion ad impressions purchased on diverse publisher sites in the past 12 months, while Shine PSAs have served more than 80 billion impressions since launch in support of nonprofit organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Cookies for Kids' Cancer and World Central Kitchen. Converse's firsthand experience on both sides of the publisher-platform relationship uniquely positions her to champion publishers' needs and help ensure their voices are represented in the decisions that shape the future of the industry.

“I've run a publishing business for going on 20 years. I know what it costs when a platform changes the rules without warning, and I know that behind every algorithm update or policy shift the impacts are felt most keenly by small business owners, the publishers who built the web as we know it on their backs,” said Cyd Converse, Director of Publisher Advocacy & Partnerships at Mediavine. “This role exists to translate industry shifts into guidance publishers can act on, and to amplify their reality in front of the people making decisions. Advocacy that doesn't change outcomes isn't advocacy. That's the standard I'm holding this role to.”

Reporting to Chief Revenue Officer Amanda Martin, Converse will work closely with Client Experience, Publisher Development, Product, and Marketing to ensure publisher needs, feedback, and experiences shape Mediavine's strategy, products and partnerships. Converse has already begun shaping that work. Through Mediavine Labs, the company's new beta program, she has partnered with Product and Engineering from the earliest stages, helping set strategy for what gets built, how it evolves, and how quickly publishers can access and influence what Mediavine builds next.

About Mediavine
Mediavine is the largest exclusive independent full-service ad management company, representing and monetizing more than 20,000 publisher partner websites. Mediavine consistently ranks as a Comscore top 5 lifestyle property with 114+ million unique monthly visitors and 14 billion video impressions annually. Mediavine is a Google Certified Publishing Partner – Premier and Great Place to Work®.

To learn more about Mediavine, visit www.mediavine.com or follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

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