DoubleVerify Data Shows News Ads Deliver Lower Costs, Higher Engagement
Event summary
- DoubleVerify analyzed 12 advertiser campaigns in H1 2026, finding news ads delivered 17.7% lower CPM, 38.4% lower CPC, and 20.6% lower vCPM vs. non-news inventory.
- News environments generated 16% higher engagement than other digital media.
- The study was conducted through DoubleVerify's News Accelerator initiative, which partners publishers and advertisers.
- Participating publishers included Euronews, Mail Metro Media, The Associated Press, The Guardian, and The Telegraph.
The big picture
As digital advertisers face increasing pressure to demonstrate ROI, this analysis provides empirical evidence that news environments offer superior efficiency and engagement. The findings come amid broader industry trends of declining trust in social media platforms and rising demand for brand-safe, high-quality ad placements. DoubleVerify's role as an independent verifier positions it to influence billions in annual ad spend allocation.
What we're watching
- Ad Spend Shifts
- Whether advertisers will reallocate budgets toward news inventory following these performance findings.
- Publisher Differentiation
- How news publishers will leverage this data to command premium ad rates compared to non-news digital media.
- Measurement Standards
- The pace at which DoubleVerify's methodology becomes an industry benchmark for evaluating news ad performance.