Nearly two decades after its launch, the online chess platform Chess.com notched a major milestone in February, crossing 250 million registered users. Now, the freemium brand has set its sights on another goal: growing its direct advertising business.
Advertising currently makes up around 10% of Chess.com’s $150 million revenue, with around 88% coming from its business subscription business, according to cofounder and chief executive Danny Rensch. The company has been profitable since its inception.
Chess.com has nearly 2 million paying subscribers across its three tiers of paid plans. Subscriptions to the annual version of its most premium offering, the $119 Diamond tier, accounted for more than half of that base. Although the company has monetized its free users with advertising since 2011 the business has always been a secondary concern, according to Rensch.
“We would never do anything that disrupts the sanctity of the game experience,” Rensch said. “That is a super important part of our ethos.”
While the platform still plans to prioritize the user experience, its posture on advertising is evolving.
Beginning this year, Chess.com began an ambitious initiative to scale its direct ad sales business, build out its first-party data infrastructure, and introduce exclusive inventory and audience targeting for brands. As part of this reorientation, the 600-person company hopes to reduce its reliance on the open programmatic market citing a lack of quality control and a frustration with its volatility.
