Digiday+ Research: Site traffic declines are publishers’ biggest concern this year

That’s according to a Digiday+ Research survey of more than 50 publisher professionals conducted at the end of 2024.

Before we dig into this year’s data, let’s take a quick snapshot of 2024. Digiday’s survey found that traffic was the biggest challenge publishers faced in 2024 by far. Forty-five percent of publisher pros told Digiday that site traffic declines were the biggest challenge the publishing industry faced last year.

Economic trends were the next-biggest challenge for publishers last year, with 25% of publisher pros saying the economy was the biggest challenge for the industry in 2024 — a far cry from the 45% who chose site traffic declines as the biggest challenge. Off-platform monetization was the third-biggest challenge for publishers in 2024, but only 9% of respondents to Digiday’s survey chose that answer option.

OK, now onto 2025: Digiday’s survey found that traffic will be publishers’ biggest challenge again this year, but slightly less so than last year. Just over a third of publisher pros (36%) told Digiday that site traffic declines is the biggest challenge the publishing industry will face in 2025 — a significant percentage, but still notably less than the 45% who said the same of traffic declines in 2024.

Economic trends will again be publishers’ second-biggest challenge this year, with 19% of publishers saying it will be the industry’s most significant challenge in 2025. This is also less than the percentage who said the same of the economy in 2024, and this year this particular challenge is tied (with walled gardens) for the second-place spot among the challenges publishers will face.

Interestingly, 6% of respondents offered challenges not included in the answer set in Digiday’s survey. Mistrust, erosion of traditional digital media ad spend and the evolution of audience behavior, specifically in regard to where people choose to get information, were some of the most notable responses included in the “other” category.

Site traffic declines topping the list of challenges publishers will face again this year is not exactly a surprise, especially when we dig deeper into Digiday’s survey results. Well over half of publishers (56%) told Digiday that their traffic decreased from the beginning of 2024 to the end. That’s compared to just more than a third (37%) who said their traffic increased throughout 2024.

And for some publishers, the traffic decrease was significant. Just shy of a quarter of publisher pros (23%) said their traffic decreased significantly during 2024. Exactly one-third (33%) said their traffic decreased only somewhat.

On the other hand, many more publishers who saw their traffic increase last year said their traffic increased only somewhat compared with those who said their traffic increased significantly. Just over a quarter of publisher pros (26%) said their traffic increased somewhat in 2024. Eleven percent said their traffic increased significantly.

And when it comes to the economy, about half of publishers agreed that it was a big challenge for their companies last year and it will be again this year as well. Fifty-five percent of publisher pros told Digiday they agree that economic trends hurt their companies’ performance in 2024. Meanwhile just 20% said they disagree.

This year, 47% of publishers said they agree that economic trends will hurt their 2025 performance. Again, just 20% said they disagree with this.

There is some hope, though, that maybe the pain inflicted by economic challenges this year won’t be that bad. Thirty-nine percent of publisher pros said they agree only somewhat that the economy will hurt their companies’ performance this year. A much smaller 8% said they strongly agree.