News advertising seen to outperform other environments, new research suggests

New research from DoubleVerify indicates that news environments continue to deliver strong results for advertisers, with 60% of marketers saying news inventory outperforms their campaign baselines, as reported by New Digital Age.

The findings, drawn from a global survey of 1,970 marketers, suggest rising confidence in news as a high-performing and cost-effective channel, even as some caution remains around adjacency to sensitive or breaking topics.

Key Points from New Digital Age’s Coverage

• DoubleVerify found that 60% of marketers report better-than-baseline performance for ads placed in news environments, with only 11% seeing below-average results.

• Just 1% of respondents consider all news content unsuitable for advertising, although attitudes vary across topics.

• Marketers expressed high comfort levels with “soft” news such as sport and entertainment at 95%, followed by news homepages at 93%.

• Slightly lower comfort levels were reported for current events and breaking news, at 88% and 84% respectively.

• 53% of marketers currently invest in news content and a further 28% plan to do so, allocating on average 28% of budgets.

• DV reports a 58% year-on-year rise in impression volume across major news publishers during the first half of 2025.

• Automotive, healthcare and pharmaceutical marketers are more likely to invest in news than other sectors.

• Agency respondents were more likely than brand marketers to cite concerns about negative or controversial news adjacency.

• DoubleVerify has introduced three new suitability categories – “Sensitive Breaking News”, “Current Events” and “Opinion & Editorial” – to help advertisers manage risk.

My Analysis

This research reinforces a trend that has been building for several years: the long-held belief that news is a risky environment for advertisers is becoming increasingly outdated. Marketers are rediscovering the value of trusted news publishers, where engaged audiences, strong contextual relevance and growing sophistication in suitability controls combine to deliver reliable results. The finding that news consistently outperforms campaign baselines is significant. It suggests that the gap between perception and performance is narrowing as technology providers such as DoubleVerify introduce more nuanced classification tools.

What also stands out is the broadening acceptance of news content. Only a marginal share of marketers see news as fundamentally unsuitable, and the high comfort levels around most categories underscore a maturing understanding of how to manage brand safety without over-blocking. The introduction of granular suitability tiers is likely to accelerate this. By making it easier to differentiate between sensitive breaking stories, routine current events and editorial opinion, advertisers can unlock more inventory without compromising their risk appetite.

For publishers, the signs are encouraging. A 58% rise in impression volume across major news sites points to strengthening demand, and the substantial budget allocations among current investors indicate that news is becoming a core performance environment rather than a niche adjunct. Vertical disparities remain, and agencies appear more cautious than brand-side marketers, but that gap may close as measurement tools improve and as evidence accumulates of the advantages of high-quality news contexts.

Looking ahead, two outcomes seem plausible. One is that improved AI-driven suitability frameworks continue to build trust, encouraging more advertisers to reinvest in news and helping publishers diversify revenue in a challenging market. The other is that persistent concerns about contentious or fast-moving stories could still constrain growth in harder news categories, with spend gravitating toward softer or more predictable areas unless industry education keeps pace. The balance will depend on how effectively verification platforms and publishers collaborate to demonstrate that quality journalism can be both safe and commercially valuable.