Display ad revenue starts to slide across Mail titles

The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday have suffered drops in revenue from display advertising in the 11 months to the end of August. The Mail’s revenues from display advertising slipped by 2.5 per cent over the period while the Mail on Sunday registered a drop of 1.3 per cent.

There was better news elsewhere at Associated however, with the Evening Standard’s display advertising up 0.2 per cent and freesheet Metro reporting a 19 per cent hike.

Overall, advertising revenues at DMGT, which owns Associated Newspapers, were up 1.7 per cent, helped by a 5.3 per cent increase in classified advertising, enhanced by the performance of its digital media properties and by increased colour advertising.

An industry source has predicted that the market may take time to improve but that ad revenues at the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday would not be the worst hit. He says/ “The market this summer has been the worst I can remember and it doesn’t look like it will necessarily improve this month.

“The finance and motors markets are in a bad way, which will continue to affect more upmarket papers such as The Daily Telegraph. But the Daily Mail and others at mid-market level, which are very much retail-led, should perform better. When retailers struggle, they advertise.”