Outset Media Index (OMI) entered its soft-launch phase on March 12, introducing a platform where hundreds of media outlets can be reviewed through one dataset. The index currently covers more than 340 outlets focused on the crypto space, including specialized publications as well as finance, technology and general news media that run regular crypto sections.

The index is built for advertisers, PR and communications agencies, publishers and other professionals who need a way to analyze outlets before allocating budgets, planning campaigns or shaping growth strategies.

At the same time, editorial teams are also trying to understand what digital growth looks like now. The Local Media Consortium’s Industry Insights Survey found that 72% of publishers reported their digital revenue increased or stayed stable in 2025, and 85% expect similar results in 2026. 

As advertising spreads across more formats and platforms, choosing the right outlets has become a bigger question. With Outset Media Index, often referred to simply as OMI, users gain one place to look at the different performance signals and make informed media decisions. The platform draws on data from sources such as Similarweb and Moz alongside its own practical indicators and numerical scores.

In total, OMI relies on 37 metrics grouped across areas such as traffic and reach, SEO and AI visibility, reader engagement and operational signals related to working with editorial teams.

The same dataset also feeds Outset Data Pulse (ODP), where the numbers are studied and explained in written research. OMI lets users analyze the outlets themselves, while ODP focuses on what those numbers actually mean.

Looking through all the indicators can take time, so the platform also brings them together into two summary scores for moments when decisions need to be made without delay.

One of them, the General Score, reflects how strongly a publication performs overall based on signals such as audience reach, visibility and consistency over time. The other is called the Convenience Score, and it looks at what it is actually like to work with that media. It takes into account how strict editorial teams tend to be, how quickly they respond and how collaboration with them usually unfolds. 

The main screen presents outlets in a table. Each row is a publication, while the columns show the indicators attached to it. From there, users can sort and filter the list depending on the type of analysis they need. OMI also allows users to select which indicators appear in the table, so outlets can be reviewed using only the data relevant to a particular task. 

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Image sourced from omindex.io 

Clicking on a publication opens its profile, showing additional indicators such as LLM referral share, how old the domain is, how long visitors stay on the site, bounce rate, link attributes and other details. 

Image sourced from omindex.io 

Sofia Belotskaia, product manager for Outset Media Index, explains the thinking that shaped OMI’s design:

"The goal was not to overwhelm people with dashboards. We wanted a space where you can look at media the way analysts actually do – look across the media landscape, see how things connect, and then zoom into one outlet when something catches your attention."

Before the indicators are used in the index, the dataset undergoes a normalization process. This step adjusts raw values so that unusually large numbers do not distort comparisons between outlets. By standardizing the inputs in this way, the system helps ensure that the metrics reflect relative performance rather than inflated figures caused by scale differences.

Industry Research Highlights the Change of Priorities in Newsrooms

The Local Media Consortium’s Industry Insights Survey also offers a look at what is happening inside news organizations themselves. Many publishers say newsroom teams now have to think not only about reporting but also about how their stories reach readers online, which platforms bring readers, and how partnerships with advertisers or other outlets fit into that picture.

Those questions are part of the reason projects like Outset Media Index are appearing. When traffic can arrive through search engines, social feeds, aggregators or messaging apps, it becomes harder to understand how a publication is doing with its audience. 

That kind of overview also helps explain the role of OMI in everyday work. Instead of relying on a single number such as total visits, analysts and campaign planners can look at several indicators at once. In a media environment where stories reach readers in many different ways, having that wider view can make decisions about partnerships, campaigns and media outreach far simpler to go through.