Q4’s stasis provided a launchpad for publishers’ Q1 advertising businesses 

The fourth quarter of 2023 wasn’t so bad for all publishers. In fact, overall the final three months of the year ended up being a period of “stabilized growth” for digital publishers’ advertising businesses, according to Boostr’s Q4 2023 Media Ad Sales Trend Report, which covered more than 100 U.S.-based digital media companies.

Patrick O’Leary, CEO and founder of Boostr, told Digiday that publishers are seeing a return to stability with ad revenue having an average growth rate of 4% in Q4. Compared to the previous two quarters, this does reveal a leveling out, versus the continued steep declines experienced throughout 2022.

That average is about on par with what Dotdash Meredith reported for its digital advertising business, which was up 3.7% year over year in Q4 2024. But The New York Times, Gannett and Dow Jones didn’t fare as well in their final earnings reports for 2023. 

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