As 2025 comes to a close, we’ve rounded up the year’s biggest trends, based on data that resonates with Digiday readers.

This year’s top publisher stats: Gen Z reader trends

This year, we learned that Gen Z makes up a very small portion of our publisher’s audience. Almost three-quarters (71%) of publisher professionals told Digiday in Q2 that Gen Z readers make up between 0% and 25% of their readers.

For publishers looking to engage more Gen Z readers, research conducted by Digiday shows that the top trends among that age group are consuming news anytime, anywhere and discovering the latest news on social media. 61% of publishers said consuming news anytime, anywhere is a top trend among Gen Z, and 55% said social media-based discovery is a top trend among these young readers.

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Publishers identify top trends among Gen Z readers

Top data for marketers: Diversification of the DSP field

Digiday’s Q3 research found that advertisers have significantly diversified their use of demand-side platforms over the past year and a half, and that’s benefiting Amazon.

In Q1 2024, marketing experts told Digiday that Google DV360 and The Trade Desk were the most commonly used DSPs, with 58% and 55%, respectively, saying they had used the platforms in the previous year. In Q3 2025, Google and TTD were in first and third place, with Amazon in second place. In Q3, 54% of marketers said they were using Google DV360, 50% said they were using Amazon DSP, and 39% said they were using TTD.

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Advertisers diversify DSP usage to benefit Amazon

Advertising spending and revenue in 2025

Marketers expect ad spending to increase over the past year, with nearly half (48%) of marketers telling Digiday they agree that advertisers will spend more in 2025 than they did in 2024. And they expect that increase to occur in the digital advertising ecosystem as well, with nearly three-quarters (74%) of marketers saying they agree that online ad spending will increase in 2025.

At the same time, publishers told Digiday that digital and traditional channels will be more balanced when it comes to ad revenue in 2025. In Q2, 51% of publisher professionals said their company generated most or all of their revenue from digital channels, down from 64% in 2024. Additionally, 23% say they derive most or all of their revenue from traditional channels this year, up from just 13% last year.

Key statistics:

• 41% Marketing professionals told Digiday that they only moderately agreed that advertiser spending would increase further in 2025. 7% They said they strongly agreed.
• 55% of marketers expect their advertising spend on behalf of clients to increase slightly this year, but 8% He said he expected the number to increase significantly.
• In 2025, 19% of publishers said they primarily derive revenue from traditional channels. and twenty three% They said they derive their revenue primarily from digital channels.
• this year, 26% of publishers said their revenue is split evenly between traditional and digital channels.

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Half of marketers say their advertising spend will increase this year

Publishers withdraw reliance on digital revenue

Current state of society in 2025

This year, social media has brought with it a wealth of data. In the second quarter, nearly half of publishers (47% to be exact) told Digiday that they saw an increase in referral traffic from social media platforms. And Meta was the biggest part of that. A quarter of publisher professionals say they have experienced an increase in referral traffic from Facebook and Instagram.

Meta was also a big part of the 2025 conversation around brand marketing. In our first quarter survey, 96% of brand and retail professionals said their companies use Instagram, and 86% said the same for Facebook. Instagram in particular is a platform that brands prefer to drive conversions and branding. This year, 42% said Instagram is the best social platform to drive conversions, and 64% said it’s the best social platform for branding.

But Digiday’s data told a different story for YouTube this year. Less than two-thirds (63%) of brand and retail professionals told Digiday they use YouTube in the first quarter, down from just under three-quarters (71%) six months ago. Meanwhile, only 4% of brands say they are spending a majority or a very large portion of their budget on YouTube this year, compared to 59% who say they are spending a small or very small portion of their marketing budget on YouTube.

And we can’t let this year end without talking about how marketers are measuring success on these platforms. It brings the conversation full circle about how we use social media and how we spend our time on social media. Digiday’s Q1 2025 study found that on Meta’s platform, engagement is the name of the game. 26% of marketers say engagement is the main measure of success on Facebook, and 37% say the same on Instagram. For YouTube, it’s impressions. 34% of marketers identify this as a key measure of success on the platform.

Key statistics:

• 14% of publishers said Facebook drove most of their year-over-year social referral traffic growth. 11% He said the same thing about Instagram.
• 11% publisher said TikTok drove most of the increase in social referral traffic seen since January 2024.
• 79% of brands and retailers said social media is one of the two marketing channels on which they spend the most of their marketing budget. and 75% They say social media is one of the two channels their companies are most confident will drive marketing success.
• 42% of marketers said engagement is the primary measure of success on TikTok.

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Almost half of publishers report an increase in referral traffic from social

How do marketers measure success on top social platforms?

Facebook and Instagram compete for meta brand marketing dominance

YouTube usage declines as fewer brands spend significant marketing spend on the platform

2025 Honorable Mention: Branded Content and Television

Data on publishers’ branded content revenue and marketers’ investments in TV and streaming round out the top stories in this year’s Digiday+ RESEARCH. Let’s take a quick look at the statistics.

• Although there has been a downward trend since 2021, 94% In the first quarter of this year, a growing percentage of publisher professionals told Digiday that they derive at least a small portion of their revenue from branded content. 72% A year ago.
• 35% of publishers said they derive most or a very large portion of their revenue from branded content. 31% 2024 and twenty five% In 2023.
• 87% of publishers said they were at least very focused on building their branded content business in Q1. 50% He said the plan is to focus heavily or heavily on branded content.
• And now it’s on TV. 55% of marketers told Digiday they were spending on TV advertising (including streaming) in the second quarter.
• 80% More marketers investing in TV and streaming say they invest in impression ads and branding ads, with streaming TV ads to be the top type in 2025.
• 46% of marketers said they plan to buy video ads on Amazon streaming platforms this year. 30% said he is unsure whether to invest in streaming advertising with Amazon in 2025.

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Branded content is back as the biggest revenue source for publishers

More than half of marketers invest in TV and streaming with a focus on impressions and branding