GX presents Roularta
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Turning privacy into growth: first-party data and look-alike modeling
How Roularta creates value while respecting privacy
Roularta Media Group, a Belgian multimedia company with over 1,300 employees and a turnover of around €300 million, brings together newspapers, magazines, local media, digital products, events, and the business database Trends Business Information.
Operating in a privacy-sensitive environment, Roularta faces a clear challenge: protect customer data while continuing to deliver relevant advertising and measurable value to partners.
The solution? Combine centralized consent management with smart strategies to scale small, high-value audiences. By leveraging BlueConic, Roularta now manages first-party data and consent centrally while building real-time look-alike models that unlock new opportunities.
Consent as a strategic advantage
BlueConic is integrated with Roularta’s consent management platform, Didomi. Users set their preferences in Didomi, and that consent information is stored in BlueConic profiles. This allows Roularta to selectively share profiles with advertising platforms and ESPs — using only those with explicit consent.
Consent has always been a priority at Roularta. With BlueConic, it’s easier to collect consent across multiple brands and ensure the company always acts on the latest user preferences. This approach safeguards compliance and builds trust while still delivering value.
Benefits of this approach include:
- Consent is stored across brands, enabling quick access to individual profiles when requested.
- Consent is granular: one profile can include multiple objectives (retargeting, personalization, email, analytics), allowing Roularta to work within privacy limits.
- Personalized ads are delivered only when both user and partner consent, maintaining compliance and trust.
Scaling small audiences with look-alike modeling
Some of Roularta’s most engaged audiences were too small to sell to advertisers. Using BlueConic’s AI Workbench, the team developed real-time look-alike models that score both known and anonymous profiles.
Visitors are dynamically included or excluded from look-alike segments as they browse, ensuring they always see relevant content. These look-alike audiences are immediately activated across ad channels, including Google Ad Manager.
The models are flexible: thresholds can be adjusted in AI Workbench, and performance can be fine-tuned using dashboards and analytics. The outcome? Small, highly specific audiences grow into larger, actionable segments without losing engagement or click-through performance.
Sustainable privacy and revenue growth
By combining centralized consent management with look-alike modeling, Roularta has struck the balance between privacy and commercial performance. Data risk is minimized, while small, high-value audiences can be scaled into meaningful, monetizable segments. This approach keeps advertising solutions effective, reliable, and trustworthy — both for users and partners.
Roularta’s Customer Journey & Data Product Manager, Kim Vansteenkiste, highlights that the collaboration with GX delivers expert BlueConic knowledge and solutions tailored to even the most complex business challenges.
Kim Vansteenkiste
Customer Journey & Data Product Manager, RoulartaWe are very pleased with GX’s technical expertise in BlueConic. As an experienced implementation partner, they understand our business challenges and provide effective solutions for even the most complex cases.
Privacy as a growth engine
For media companies and data-driven organizations, the challenge is real: how do you protect privacy while remaining relevant? Roularta proves that first-party data and consent can be the foundation of scalable revenue models. With the right approach, small audiences can be grown and activated effectively — without compromising user trust.
Hanneke Kuipers
Managing Director Data ServicesDiscover how look-alike modeling and intelligent consent management can help your organization grow. Contact us to explore the possibilities.