Think Digitally, Act Locally: The Increasing Benefits Of Digital Revenue For Local Media

I recently wrote about the confidence that more than half of editors, CEOs, and digital executives have about the business of journalism in 2025.

Helping point to where that confidence is coming from is a separate, recent survey of thousands of North American local media outlets, which found that nearly half (44.8%) saw an increase in total digital revenue from the year before, and more than two-thirds (67.9%) are increasing their digital revenue budget for the year ahead.

 

Social Media Ads And AI Are Top Of Mind For Marketers This Year

Whatever happens to TikTok, marketers are planning to keep spending big on social media. That’s according to a new report from omnichannel ad platform Mediaocean, which has since 2021 been surveying marketers about consumer and tech trends for a series of biannual reports on outlooks for the industry.

 

Poor Print: Offline Media Spend Will Fall In 2025, Forecast Says

Publishers can take at least some solace from Winterberry Group’s new report, Outlook for Advertising, Marketing and Data: Transformation Accelerates. Total media expenditures will grow by 6.1% YoY to $585 billion in 2025, Winterberry projects. And there will be shifts to largely digital, data-centric channels fueled by investments in ad tech, analytics and AI.  

 

New York Magazine Union Reaches Contract Deal, Averts Walkout

Members at New York Magazine reached a contract deal with management and averted a walkout. Workers told bosses they were ready to walk if management didn’t agree to a successor contract. The new tentative agreement includes wage increases and strong protections on artificial intelligence.

Keeping Perspective: AI, Subscriptions, And The State of Journalism In 2025

It appears the state of journalism in 2025 is all about, well, one’s perspective.

And while that difference in perspective is not as clear-cut as journalism’s separation of church and state, the split in confidence does ride along similar division lines.

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism recently released its annual “Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2025” report, finding that while 41% of editors, CEOs, and digital execs are “confident about the prospects for journalism in the year ahead,” 17% have low confidence due to various factors considered “significant threats to journalism’s ability to operate freely.” 

All that, while more than half are confident about the business of journalism, “a significant jump on last year’s figure.”

 

Programmatic Roars: Ad Spend Will Be Higher This Year

Advertisers, now settling down to business after a tumultuous 2024, are increasing their programmatic spend this year. Of those polled, 72% expect to invest more in programmatic advertising in 2025, up from 62% in 2024, according to the State of Programmatic, a study from Proximic by Comscore. 

 

The 2025 State of Marketing Report

Our recent research revealed that AI tools and unified tech stacks are a major differentiator in helping marketers connect with their audiences. The marketing teams with connected CRMs … are more confident in taking on their biggest challenges, like data privacy concerns, rising customer expectations, and the demand for authentic, personalized content. 

 

The State of Prospecting 2025

Buyer journeys are more complex. Longer sales cycles, larger buying committees, and fiercer competition mean businesses must adapt their strategies to align with today’s buyer journeys.

The Credit They Deserve: As AI Expands Into Newsrooms, Are Publishers Seeing Better Attributions?

Recently, Axios announced that it would be expanding its local newsrooms to 34 in total. 

And while local-news expansion is always welcome in the publishing world, it’s the publisher’s partner that makes this expansion particularly noteworthy: OpenAI.

Yes, the AI company is funding the local-news expansion to four cities, “as part of a broader content-sharing and technology deal,” Axios says. And while Axios CEO Jim VandeHei says OpenAI will not be used for reporting in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Boulder, or Huntsville, it will “help build a system for creation, distribution, and monetization of our journalism.”

 

Survey: Publishers To Focus On Digital Growth, New Audience Strategies In 2025

The rise in artificial intelligence, shifts in media consumption and challenges like privacy and signal loss in advertising were frequently discussed in the news this year. … We surveyed AAM publisher clients to learn more about their experiences this year and what they hope to accomplish in the year ahead.

 

Tech Stack Jumble: Brands Are Having Trouble Identifying Customers

Email teams may be suffering from larger issues affecting their organizations. For one thing, 70% of marketing leaders are struggling to identify and engage audiences across multiple touchpoints, according to the Q4 2024 Identity Resolution from TransUnion, conducted by Forrester. Here’s one reason why: Of the companies polled, 66% are using 16 or more martech solutions.

2025 Mobile Consumer Insights Report

Consumers have spoken: text messaging and digital wallets are driving them to engage with and purchase from brands. … 86% are more likely to engage with or redeem mobile offers sent to them via SMS than those sent via email or in a brand’s mobile app.

Digital Diligence: Why The Right Tech Is Essential For Today’s (and Tomorrow’s) Digital Content Needs

2025 is in full swing, and as publishers and advertisers look ahead — as they always do — the continuous need for digital content shows no sign of slowing.

In fact, new research from Canto and Ascend2 confirms that, with more than three-quarters (77%) of creatives expecting their production volume to increase this year, up a full five percent from the 72% in previous years. All this, while 17% expect budget cuts.

 

Digital Publisher Programmatic Ad Sales Continue To Inch Out Direct Sold

Programmatic ad sales on properties owned by digital publishers will reach $22.69 billion by 2027, adding $3.7 billion to where it was in 2022, according to Advertiser Perceptions’ “Q4 2024: The State of the Ad Industry” survey.

 

Will AI-Generated Advertising Disrupt The Creative Industry? 

The time and cost savings that AI-generated creative can provide during the development journey of an ad campaign are very attractive for brands. Why spend time and money to create an animatic or a storyboard if you can feed the text prompt and see the rough draft of your idea brought to life in a matter of moments? Some even believe that AI-generated content will be able to eliminate the need to produce a finished copy and will become the standard in the ad creation process. But are we there yet?

 

The Future of the Martech Stack 2025

A significant 96% of marketing professionals view their marketing technology as successful in achieving strategic objectives, with 35% rating it as “very successful” or best-in-class. The majority, 61%, find their martech stack somewhat effective, reflecting general satisfaction but indicating room for improvement.

Tech Check: Google Makes First Exemption Payment To Canadian Publishers

Where Canada/United States relations go after this week is anybody’s guess, but those recent posturing headlines have obscured other Canadian-partnership news that loom large in the publishing world.

Of course, I’m referring to the safe arrival of the massive check Google had dropped in the post, allowing the company to stay in north-of-the-border business.

 

We Analyzed 332 Million Queries Over 21 Months To Uncover Never-Before-Published Data On How People Use Google

Google is a massive presence on the modern web. They’ve held 90%+ of the global search market share for 15 years. Even the rise of AI tools has been unable to budge that number (so far). They get <9% of all web visits, but send more than 60% of all referring traffic to other sites.

 

Those Tiresome Emails: Consumers Quick To Switch When They Get Too Many

Email remains the most popular channel with consumers, but it is easy to annoy them with excessive volume and lack of personalization, judging by The 2025 Optimove Consumer Marketing Fatigue Report. Of the shoppers polled, 59% prefer email as their primary channel for messages, compared to 18% who prefer social media. Moreover, 48% notice email over other channels. But there is a risk of overuse …

 

Consumers Like Locally Targeted Ad Messaging

68% of US internet users think marketing from national brands with local messaging makes ads more relevant and shows advertisers are investing in local communities, per a study from The Harris Poll and Locality.

AI Advertising Advantages: How AI Is Revolutionizing Media Sales

There seems to be no end to what AI is capable of … or at least will be very soon. 

That’s good news for those who adopt and maximize the tool sooner rather than later … and great news for those in media sales in particular, with more than half (57%) of ad buyers using or planning to use AI-powered products, according to a recent EMARKETER survey.

 

Unlocking The Impact & Potential Of AI

While the world is awed by the stuff of science fiction suddenly come to life, few fully comprehend the
 power and possibility of AI — and the risks and
responsibilities that come with it. We surveyed AI buyers to gain a better understanding of how they currently harness AI in their organizations, results they’ve seen, challenges they face, and what they believe the future holds.

 

Trigger Happy: Brands Seek To Boost Their Automation And Personalization

Email marketers have set two main priorities for the next 12 months: automation and personalization, according to The State Of Email In Lifecycle Marketing, a study by Litmus. Of companies polled, 35% hope to create more automated/triggered email. And 29% are expanding their personalization use. 

 

2025 B2B Marketing Mix Report

For 2025, brand awareness has again taken center stage, securing the top spot on the list of objectives for B2B marketers, just as it did in 2024. This consistency highlights that businesses recognize the critical importance of building and maintaining their brand. While lead generation and client retention remain strong priorities, a robust brand distinguishes a company in an increasingly competitive landscape, fostering trust, loyalty, and premium pricing.

Quality Time: Top Barrier To Growing Programmatic Is Quality Of Media

As we kick off 2025 and consider this year’s goals — from the personal New Year’s resolutions to the bottom-line targets — it’s important to keep looking ahead at the hurdles standing in the way.

For potential programmatic investors, that hurdle is clearly the quality of media.

IAB Europe conducted its annual Attitudes To Programmatic Advertising Report, and in surveying advertisers, agencies, publishers, and ad tech vendors across Europe, the top-ranked key barrier to adopting or growing their programmatic trade was the quality of media (e.g. fraud, brand safety, viewability, transparency).

 

2025 Digital Media Difficulties For Publishers And Platforms

U.S. digital media publishers and platforms are split on the difficulties they will face in 2025, according to a September 2024 study from Integral Ad Science and YouGov. Almost a third (29%) cited ads delivered alongside risky content, contextual targeting, monetizing with/without social platforms, and scaled audience extension as major challenges.

 

Casual B2B: Brands Are Advised To Humanize AI Mentions, Corporate Style

B2B marketers have a habit of sending out the wrong vibe. For example, they waste readership focus by inserting generic mentions of AI. It doesn’t work, and marketers are turning away from it, according to Vidmob’s 2024 Creative Trends Report with LinkedIn. 

 

2/3 Of Digital Content Creators Do Not Check Their Facts Before Sharing, But Want To Learn How To Do So

At a time when digital content creators have become a major source of information for people, a UNESCO survey published today reveals that 62% do not carry out rigorous and systematic fact-checking of information prior to sharing it. But 73% express the wish to be trained to do so.

Transparency and Unbiased Reporting The Biggest Drivers In Building Newspaper Trust (New Report)

As I’ve written before, the trustworthiness of newspapers is nothing new, but for all it means to readers and advertisers alike, that fact should continue to be celebrated.

And while I touched upon the main takeaway from the America’s Newspapers study — that local newspapers (and local TV stations) were the most trusted media for more than half of those surveyed — it’s worth diving deeper into what drives that trust.

 

2025 Advertising Spending Forecasts: A Detailed Look at Growth Categories

With 24% of respondents indicating a significant increase and 51% noting moderate growth, CTV/Streaming/OTT Video continues to lead as a top growth category. This trend aligns with eMarketer’s projections, which estimate that digital video ad spending will grow by 13% in 2025, driven largely by consumer migration to streaming platforms.

 

AI Shifts Ad-Tech And Media-Buying Budgets For 2025

Budgets will shift to emerging AI-powered channels that embrace creative automation and conversational commerce as marketers begin to feel more optimistic about the coming year. Seventy-five percent of participants in a study from Smartly released today anticipate a budget increase to support change.

 

A Third of Gen X and Baby Boomer Shoppers Make Purchases After Seeing Digital Ads

LoopMe … has today released US data revealing that consumers from the Gen X and Baby Boomer generations are most receptive to digital ads. Over a third (37%) of 45-54 year olds and 40% of 55-64 year olds stated they make purchases from ads they see online at least every few months — greater than the average of 31%. The findings indicate that marketers will need to be highly targeted with their spend if they want to capitalize on older shoppers’ online ad engagement.

Stay Human: New Study Finds Journalist-Crafted Articles Preferred Over AI

The holidays have come early for human journalists around the world.

A recent study from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich found that “traditionally-crafted news articles are more comprehensible than articles produced with automation,” with AI’s word choice being a particular point of dissatisfaction for the readers surveyed.

“Readers complained that the AI-produced articles contained too many inappropriate, difficult, or unusual words and phrases,” says the report, originally published in the Journalism: Theory, Practice, and Criticism journal. “Furthermore, readers were significantly less satisfied with the way the automated articles handled numbers and data.”

 

America’s News Influencers

A unique Pew Research Center study provides a deeper understanding of both the makeup of the news influencer universe and its audience. The project includes an in-depth examination of a sample of 500 popular news influencers and the content they produce, derived from a review of more than 28,000 social media accounts. We also conducted a nationally representative survey of Americans to better understand who regularly gets news from news influencers.

 

Email Fear And Flight: Workers Dread Opening Their Inboxes

Here’s a sobering thought for B2B marketers trying to reach prospects by email at work: People are afraid to read their emails. To be specific, 78.7% of employees dread opening their work email inbox, and 58.5% fear it on a regular basis, according to a new study by Emailtooltester.

 

Digital Dominates Advertising, But Traditional Channels Are Still Relevant For Some Sectors

Over 80% of ad spending in the US for technology and electronics (87.1%), retail (82.9%), and consumer packaged goods (80.2%) is directed toward digital media, according to EMARKETER’s August 2024 forecast.

AI Expectations: Why Publishers Must Balance Excitement With Realism

As anyone can tell from how much I have written about AI’s place in publishing and in the newsroom specifically, it is clear that I’m coming from a place of excitement.

From here, at the particularly-thrilling intersection of publishing and technology, this tool’s work potential is worthy of our best efforts and explorations now while it’s impossible to ignore.

Still, the more-measured reactions and AI reports — whether that’s from the user or the audience perspective — are always welcome, and a recent study from Enders Analysis provides an interesting one to chew on.

 

Marketers and GenAI: Diving Into the Shallow End

Marketers are leading in GenAI use, but it’s only surface level. What’s needed to take the next step?

 

The AI Character Question: Can AI Agents Reverse Declining Trust In Brands?

Consumers are hardly in a trusting mood as we approach the holiday season. A full 72% have less faith in companies than they did a year ago, up from 56% in 2023, according to the State of the AI Connected Customer, a study by Salesforce. Only 26% trust companies more, down from 44% last year. 

 

Chatbots Are Marketers’ Most Popular Use Case For AI

38% of marketers worldwide cite chatbots as the most impactful AI use case for enhancing the digital experience, according to a September 2024 survey by Advanis and Sitecore.