Digital Publishers Firmly Focused on Growth as Attitudes to AI Mature, AOP Survey Reveals

Published: 11 Feb 2026

Subscriptions and video provide biggest revenue opportunities, say publishers, while private marketplaces set to become more commonplace

London, UK, 11th February 2026: The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) has released the ‘Digital Publishing: Outlook and Priorities for 2026’ report, summarising findings from its annual survey of digital publishers and solutions providers. The report reveals a strong focus on growth for the year ahead among digital publishers, while ESG initiatives continue to be deprioritised, and attitudes to AI are maturing.

The survey, conducted by AOP with the survey report sponsored by The Trade Desk, was completed by 163 participants; 83% from digital publishing and 17% from solutions providers. Within the publisher respondents, 16% were from board level, 48% were head of department, and 21% were team leaders. The research was conducted between November 2025 and January 2026.

Business Priorities

Growth is a key driver for publishers going into 2026. Nearly nine out of 10 publishers (87%) agreed or strongly agreed that ‘developing new revenue streams through product innovation’ was an important business priority. Growing new audiences (82%) and increasing advertising revenues (77%) were the next most important considerations.

Overall, the order of priorities for publishers remained relatively consistent year-on-year, aside from two notable exceptions. 'Developing policies relating to the use of generative AI' climbed to 61% in 2026 from 46% last year. Meanwhile, recruiting and retaining new talent dropped seven places, with only 36% of publisher respondents citing this as an organisational priority, compared to 61% in 2025.

Revenues

Subscriptions and video (both 45%) were joint top of the list as areas for potential revenue growth over the next three years. While subscriptions also topped the list last year, cited by 50% of respondents, this represents a rapid growth in video as a prospective revenue stream, up from 36% in 2025. Interestingly, licensing of content to benefit training for large language models (LLMs) was up 5% from 2025 to 15%, suggesting publishers are more open to this possibility as their position towards AI technologies develops.

Breaking the numbers down, B2B publishers and consumer publishers have different revenue priorities. Branded content (63%) and subscriptions (58%) were the top growth areas identified by consumer publishers, while B2B publishers prioritised events (69%) and lead generation (62%). For publishers targeting both audiences, video and audio, podcasts & internet radio (both 53%) were identified as the top growth areas.

The survey also revealed that 68% of respondents said the majority of their advertising is driven by direct deals, and this is likely to make up the bulk of advertising revenue for the following three years. However, a noticeable shift away from open marketplaces towards private marketplaces is likely to occur over the next three years, with 28% of respondents highlighting private marketplaces (PMPs) as a growth area.

Artificial Intelligence

Having had another year to assess the impact and opportunities presented by AI, views on these technologies among publishers are mixed. Almost two-thirds of publishers (64%) said that AI is being used within editorial teams to improve workflows, freeing up staff to do more real journalism. Nearly as many (63%) are using generative AI in product development to enhance the user experience.

However, consumer publishers in particular are concerned about the threat posed by LLMs being trained on their content, with 63% investing in IP protection and legal processes regarding LLMs. In contrast, fewer B2B publishers (33%) and those with business and consumer audiences (31%) are currently pursuing this path.

Talent & Employer Excellence

Talent attraction and retention have decreased in priority for publishers this year, with just under a third of publishers (31%) experiencing a shortfall in talent within their organisation, down from 33% in 2025 and 46% in 2024.

While publishers didn't suggest they were looking to hire talent with a content development background in social media, as opposed to traditionally trained journalists, more than two-thirds (69%) said they expect journalists to have a voice on social media, shifting the focus towards building individual brands alongside the prestige and authority of the publisher.

Corporate Responsibility

The report also found that the importance of ESG initiatives has declined. While 53% of publishers agreed or strongly agreed they were focused on reducing the carbon footprint of their organisation in 2025, this figure fell to 45% this year.

When asked to agree or disagree with the statement that ESG goals had been de-prioritised due to wider commercial challenges, 32% either agreed or strongly agreed, suggesting that for nearly a third of publishers, financial strain has curtailed the number of activities they are able to undertake in this area.

"The findings of our fifth annual survey show that publishers are staying firmly focused on growth, with product innovation, audience expansion and advertising all central to their strategies," said Richard Reeves, Managing Director, AOP. "Advertising remains the backbone of the publishing model with direct deals still dominant, even as private marketplaces gain momentum as a future growth driver. As publishers take a more measured view of AI's impact, it is crucial they also continue to look beyond the immediate priorities and ongoing commercial pressure, to ensure longer-term initiatives, in particular ESG, don’t fall by the wayside."

“It’s clear from this research that advertising remains key to publishers’ growth ambitions as one of the most scalable ways to fund quality journalism,” said Theo Luke, Senior Director, Inventory Partnerships Development at The Trade Desk. “The next step is ensuring it works harder for every publisher through first-party data strategies and privacy-forward identity tools, alongside measurement frameworks. This will help unlock higher-value demand, deepen trust with advertisers, and build a healthier open internet marketplace that will ultimately sustain independent journalism in the future.”

The full report can be downloaded here.

ENDS

About the ‘Digital Publishing: Outlook and Priorities for 2026’ survey

This research, carried out between 26^th November 2025 and 14^th January 2026, surveyed 163 stakeholders in the publishing industry, 83% of whom were from publishers and 17% from organisations providing solutions to the publishing sector. Its intention was to capture how digital publishing companies in the UK are responding to current industry challenges.

About Association of Online Publishers

Association of Online Publishers (AOP) is an industry body representing digital publishing companies that create original, branded, quality content. AOP champions the interests of media owners from diverse backgrounds including newspaper and magazine publishing, TV and radio broadcasting, and pure online media. For more information, please visit www.ukaop.org..