The Association for Online Publishing (AOP) showcased the digital publishing industry’s top talent in the virtual debut of its prestigious annual awards ceremony.

The flagship event, organised in partnership with PubMatic, and hosted by comedian and Mash Report star Ellie Taylor, moved to an online platform for the first time in its 18 year history. Accompanied by the AOP Awards House Band, the industry’s most renowned annual celebration recognised the successes of individuals, publishers, advertisers, agencies and suppliers who set the highest standard for digital publishing excellence.

“We always enjoy bringing the digital publishing industry together in celebration of its ongoing innovation and talent,” commented Richard Reeves, managing director at AOP. “The Digital Publishing Awards commemorate the brilliance of those who define our industry. As the evolution of the media landscape continues to bring new challenges and opportunities in what has been a difficult year, it is important not to lose sight of the achievements the industry has made. Our awards help to acknowledge those who have set the benchmark for quality digital content, through their in-depth knowledge, acumen and ingenuity.

“This year’s awards also mark the launch of The Finalist’s Guide to Digital Excellence video series, where our highly acclaimed finalists share their insights and experience to help inspire the digital publishing sector.”

Emma Newman, CRO EMEA at PubMatic commented: “The AOP Digital Publishing Awards celebrate the very best in digital publishing and we’re pleased to be able to support the event once again. With categories covering all aspects of the delivery of engaging and innovation digital content, the winners have demonstrated an extensive understanding of their audiences.”

The awards saw the Best Online Brand: Consumer accolade go to Readly, while Open Library for Humanities received the award for Small Digital Publisher of the Year, with both winners representing the introduction of different publishing models.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Editorial Excellence

• Best Podcast Strategy

○      Winner: Film Stories

• Best Use of Video

○      Winner:  Saving The Planet Through Snapchat, VICE UK

○      Highly Commended: carwow

• Digital Editor of the Year

○      Winner: James Murray – Business Green, Incisive Media

○      Highly Commended: Laurence Mozafari – Digital Spy, Hearst UK

• Digital Editorial Team of the Year: B2B

○      Winner: edie, Faversham House

• Digital Editorial Team of the Year: Consumer

○      Winner: VICE UK

○      Highly Commended: Digital Spy, Hearst UK

• Digital Journalist of the Year (Sponsored by EX.CO)

○      Winner: George Driver – ELLE Digital Beauty Editor, Hearst UK

• The Local Hero Award for Regional Digital Journalism (Sponsored by Google News Initiative)

○      Winner: Robyn Vinter – Yorkshire Post

○      Highly Commended: Natasha Meek – Bradford Telegraph & Argus

Partnerships Excellence

• Best Commercial Partnership (Sponsored by Lewis Silkin)

○      Winner: What Car? TrueMPG & Nissan LEAF, Haymarket Automotive Studio

○      Highly Commended: Evening Standard's Future London, ESI Media

• Best Creative Solutions Led / Content Marketing Campaign

○      Winner: The Instant Edit: Mail Metro Media For Matalan, Mail Metro Media

• Best Media Technology Partner

○      Winner: Ozone Project & Beeswax Fight For A Fairer Future For Premium Publishers, Beeswax

Commercial Excellence

• Best Diversification of Commercial Strategy (Sponsored by Deloitte)

○      Winner: Marie Claire UK, Future

• Digital Advertising Operations Team of the Year (Sponsored by Google)

○      Winner: Global Media & Entertainment

• Digital Sales Person of the Year

○      Winner: Jack Ellis – Haymarket Automotive

• Digital Sales Team of the Year

○      Winner: Nowse Sales Team, Dennis Publishing

Publishing Excellence

• Audience Development Team of the Year

○      Winner: The Telegraph

○      Highly Commended: The Sun, News UK

• Best Digital Publishing Innovation (Sponsored by Xandr)

○      Winner: Building The Digital Advertising Environment Of The Future, The Ozone Project

○      Highly Commended: Permutive & Financial Times: Excelling In A World Without Third Party Cookies, Permutive

• Best Research / Insight Project (Sponsored by UKOM)

○      Winner: The Times & The Sunday Times Content Review, News UK

• Best Use of Data (Sponsored by LiveRamp)

○      Winner: Article Quality Scoring Algorithm, Call Centre Helper (Clearly Presented Ltd)

• Digital Publishing Rising Star 2020

○      Winner: Charlie Celino – News UK

○      Highly Commended: Rebecca Knight – Future

• Product Development Team of the Year

○      Winner: JPIMedia

• The Digital Publishing Award for Employer Excellence (Sponsored by Project 23)

○      Winner: Incisive Media

Grand Prix

• Best Online Brand: B2B

○      Winner: edie, Faversham House

○      Highly Commended: Business Green, Incisive Media

• Best Online Brand: Consumer

○      Winner: Readly

• Small Digital Publisher of the Year

○      Winner: Open Library of Humanities

• Best Digital Publishing Company: B2B

○      Winner: Incisive Media

• Best Digital Publishing Company: Consumer

○      Winner: News UK

Additional details on the AOP Digital Publishing Awards 2020 can be found at www.ukaop.org/awards2020