Digital Publishers’ Display Advertising Revenues Stabilised in Q4 2024, reveals AOP and Deloitte

Published: 25 Mar 2025

Video and audio revenues show strong growth as subscriptions slow

London, UK, 25^th March 2025: The latest Digital Publishers’ Revenue Index (DPRI) from the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) and Deloitte reveals that display advertising revenues have stabilised after a prolonged period of steep decline. Overall, digital revenue growth was flat at -0.02% year-on-year (YoY) compared to Q4 2023 for a total of £173.97 million.

For many years, the DPRI has reported significant declines in display revenues, often in the double digits. This trend was bucked In Q4 2024, when display revenues declined by just 0.72% YoY, for a total of £63.52 million. Subscription revenues have also stabilised, though in the other direction: the trend towards growth has slowed, sitting at 3.26% YoY for a total of £48.85 million.

With both display and subscription revenues — which represent the two largest categories by a significant margin — seemingly settling, growth has been bolstered by video and audio revenues, which continued their longstanding upwards trends at 16.5% and 43.1% YoY respectively, for a combined total of £14.36 million.

Video and audio growth was offset by significant declines in sponsorship revenues — the third largest category — which fell by 5.76% YoY for a total of £21.91 million, down from £23.25 million. Smaller revenue categories that also saw declines were recruitment (-28.13%), other classified (-69.39%), and off-platform (-12.35%).

Revenue growth was reported by 60% of respondents, a huge upswing from the prior quarter, when just 30% responded positively. This follows more than a year of quarter-on-quarter declines in the share of publishers that reported growth, and the first time since Q3 2023 that more publishers have reported growth than not.

Andy Cowen, lead partner for telecoms, media and entertainment at Deloitte, said: “This quarter's results offer a glimmer of hope in what has been a challenging period for digital publishers. The stabilisation of display advertising, coupled with the significant growth in video and audio, suggests that publishers are adapting to the evolving digital landscape. However, the reliance on these emerging formats, alongside the slowdown in subscription revenue, underlines the need for a diversified revenue strategy to unlock future growth."

Richard Reeves, Managing Director at AOP, commented: “While we can’t look at one report as indicative of a trend, it is massively encouraging to finally see a break in long-term declines in display advertising and the share of publishers seeing growth. If this is indeed the start of a period of stabilisation, then the next step is growing the total revenue pot, which has been flat for far too long. Should subscriptions plateau — as ongoing trends indicate — video and audio may be the near standard-bearers for revenue growth and diversification.”