#271: Why news app readers pay attention to your ads with Ramesh Ramalingam, VP of Product at SmartNews

In a world built to fragment your attention, one news app made the opposite bet: fewer ads, trusted sources, and users who actually stay.

In this episode, we speak with Ramesh Ramalingam, VP of Product at SmartNews, about how a Japanese news app was rebuilt — not ported — for American users.

Ramesh explains why SmartNews users spend 20 minutes per session, why 79% of them don't switch to another screen while reading, and how that focus turns into brand recall for advertisers. He also covers contextual targeting without cross-web tracking, why the product looks different in Tokyo than in Los Angeles, and how a revenue-share model keeps publishers in the loop.

If you work in product, app growth, or media monetization, this is a conversation about building for engagement quality rather than scale.

Today’s topics include:

• Engagement over scale — 20-minute average sessions and why 79% of users stay undistracted
• Monetization model — native brand and performance advertising, programmatic where it fits, plus SmartNews+ subscriptions in Japan
• Brand safety and privacy — contextual targeting, first-party data, and third-party validation instead of invasive tracking
• Japan to US expansion — high-density vs. clean-white-space design, local publisher partnerships, and building credibility from scratch
• Centralized vs. decentralized product development — core platform in Japan, market teams close to local users

Links and Resources:

• Ramesh Ramalingam on LinkedIn
• Smartnews website
• Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry

Quotes from Ramesh Ramalingam

“What is interesting about SmartNews is it's not about the scale. We're talking about 50 million, but it's more about the user engagement. Our users spend on average 20 minutes in our product, which is very high.”

“From an advertiser perspective, yes, they do care about the reach, but trust is the most important aspect. We don't rely on invasive tracking across the web like other platforms do. What we built is a privacy-first, brand-safe environment.”

“We didn't take the Japanese app and plug it into the US. We made sure that it is customized to the user preferences in the US, and it's built for American users.”

Host

Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012