The latest Digital Publishers’ Revenue Index (DPRI) from the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) and Deloitte reveals the continuing decline in display advertising as a revenue stream for digital publishers, with a 11.4% decrease in Q3 2024 resulting in flat growth overall. Digital revenue declined slightly by 0.1% year-on-year (YoY) compared to Q3 2023 for a total of £152.8 million.
According to the data, the fall in display revenues follows ongoing trends, as digital publishers continue to diversify their revenue streams. Typically, increasing subscription revenues — the second largest category at £49 million versus £58 million for display — balances out decreases in display. However, the comparatively modest 4.9% Q3 growth in subscriptions was not enough to make up the shortfall.
Most growth in Q3 2024 was driven by a surprise 18.3% increase in sponsorship revenues and a 66.3% increase in the miscellaneous category – for totals of £12.9 million and £14.8 million respectively. The most likely source of “miscellaneous” growth is data sales, either to aggregators, business partners, or AI companies seeking model training materials.
Digital audio saw its first decline (-3.3%) after many quarters of growth, while video fell by 7.4%. However, video’s declines are isolated to desktop-only advertising (-48.5%), as it returned 30% growth in multi-platform campaigns.
Off-platform revenues also saw a substantial Q3 increase at 60.7% YoY, versus just 3.7% when measured as a moving annual total (MAT). This discrepancy suggests that publishers have only recently turned their off-platform strategies around. A year ago, publishers would have been reeling from Meta’s deprioritisation of news, but they have since redirected their efforts to WhatsApp, TikTok, and BlueSky. Judging by the YoY growth, this has been a success.
Just 30% of respondents reported growth in Q3 2024, meaning that the majority of publishers are experiencing losses despite overall revenues remaining flat. This follows an ongoing and concerning trend: 58% of respondents reported growth in Q3 2023, falling to 50% the following quarter, then 43%, 35%, and now 30% — the most extreme concentration of growth among top performers yet reported by the DPRI.
Andy Cowen, lead partner for telecoms, media and entertainment at Deloitte, said: “While overall publishing revenues appear stable, the reality for most publishers is a decline masked by the success of a select few. The reliance on data sales and sponsorships, while welcome, underlines the need for publishers to find sustainable revenue models beyond traditional advertising. The slowdown in subscription growth only adds further urgency to suppliers as this revenue stream may be approaching a ceiling. Publishers who successfully crack the code of diversification, particularly in off-platform strategies, will be the ones who thrive in this continuously evolving market.”
Richard Reeves, managing director at AOP, commented: “This quarter’s results demonstrate the value in revenue diversification as — despite bullish predictions — any increase in advertising spend has clearly not filtered through to digital publishers. Instead, sponsorships, data sales, and subscriptions are doing the heavy lifting for revenue growth. However, if the lower-than-usual growth in subscriptions we saw this quarter continues, publishers may be nearing their peak in subscriber numbers.”
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