Spain’s online publication, El Español, was launched in 2015 as a bold, independent, and innovative startup. Ten years later, it’s grown into the nation’s leading general newspaper, drawing in more than 3.5 million daily visitors and over 20 million unique users each month. In August 2025, the site reached 26.85 million unique visitors across all platforms, solidifying its top position in Comscore’s national rankings. Today, El Español has become one of Spain’s most trusted and widely read news sources, helping define the country’s daily conversation.
Even with its digital dominance, the team saw room to push further. Video represented a dynamic way to engage audiences more deeply, extend time on site, and unlock new revenue streams. But their existing infrastructure wasn’t built to fully deliver on that vision, and a smarter, more connected approach was critical to fully harness video’s power.
The challenge: unify video and unlock smarter monetization
Despite El Español’s prominence, its video setup was limited and fragmented. Video appeared only on select articles, and different sections of the site used separate systems, making it difficult to manage performance consistently. This patchwork approach limited the team’s ability to scale video content, optimize ad revenue, and ensure that ads matched the context of each story.
They needed a solution that could simplify operations, automate ad placement, and drive measurable publisher revenue growth, all while giving them full visibility and control over monetization.
The solution: one platform for both performance and relevance
El Español partnered with EX.CO to bring a smarter, more connected approach to video across its entire site. The rollout of EX.CO’s online video platform (OVP) featured a nimble, quick-to-load video player and contextual video recommendations powered by large language models (LLMs), which automatically suggested the most relevant clips for each article. This helped increase engagement without compromising the user experience.
Meanwhile, EX.CO’s machine learning–based yield engine continuously refined ad placement in real time, eliminating the need for manual adjustments. The result was a unified system that simplified operations, matched ads seamlessly to each story’s context, and unlocked new opportunities for revenue growth—all while giving publishers full visibility and control over monetization. The partnership enabled El Español to expand video across all subdomains quickly and efficiently.
The results: measurable growth in just one quarter
Within three months, El Español saw a 23% increase in RPMs and nearly 50% growth in ad impressions, showing the impact of EX.CO’s platform on driving scalable, consistent revenue. The yield engine automatically optimized every impression for maximum value, while contextual video recommendations helped increase engagement and boost viewability across the site.
The smart way to scale video revenue
Many publishers face the same challenge El Español once did: expanding video across their sites without sacrificing performance or editorial integrity. Fragmented tools, manual optimization, and complex integrations can slow growth and drain resources.
EX.CO combines automation, transparency, and contextual relevance into one platform—empowering publishers to grow video intelligently and sustainably. By partnering with EX.CO, El Español turned every article into an opportunity for engagement and stronger revenue.
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