As the digital advertising landscape continues to evolve, news publishers are refining their approach to understanding what drives consumer engagement in digital news environments.
In 2025, audience behaviour is no longer just about clicks—it’s about context, trust, and the perceived value exchange between consumers and content providers.
Trust remains a key driver
Research shows that consumers are more receptive to advertising when it appears within a trusted news environment. According to a 2023 IAB Australia and Nielsen study on digital trust, 84% of Australians believe that ads on credible news websites are more trustworthy than those on social platforms or unknown sites. This is supported by a Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024, which found that Australians place higher levels of trust in traditional news brands than in information found on social media, creating a more fertile ground for meaningful ad engagement.
“Advertising within trusted news content benefits from the halo effect,” said Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia. “Consumers associate the credibility of the publisher with the ad, which can significantly boost brand perception.”
Attention, not impressions, is the new currency
A 2023 study by Playground XYZ, using eye-tracking across 20,000 participants and 55 video ads across platforms, found that just 1.4 seconds of visual attention can yield a 10% uplift in brand awareness, while 3.9 seconds can significantly enhance prompted recall.
Meanwhile, VCCP Media and Amplified Intelligence demonstrated that 1.5 seconds of genuine attention in a digital feed is often enough to encode a lasting memory, reshaping how agencies approach campaign planning.
“Brands are too often focused on the time their ad is in view,” said Professor Karen Nelson-Field, founder of Amplified Intelligence, “but it’s the time that it is actually viewed—active attention—that matters.”
Further analysis by Lumen Research and Havas Media of more than 9,000 brand-lift studies found that aggregate attention—even brief or repeated—correlates strongly with brand awareness and purchase intent.
A recent campaign in Germany by Teads, using predictive eye-tracking, reported an 18% increase in ad recall and a 12% boost in brand awareness by simply optimizing creatives for attention capture.
These studies collectively reinforce the idea that not all ad views are equal—and that advertising in high-attention environments, such as premium news websites, delivers stronger return on investment than the low-engagement typical of fast-scrolling social feeds.
Conclusion: A more conscious consumer
Today’s digital news reader is more conscious of their attention, privacy, and value. The best-performing digital news ads are those that respect the user experience, align with trusted content, and clearly support the news ecosystem.
As the advertising industry moves forward, the brands that win will be those that listen to consumer behaviour—not just through surveys or metrics, but by genuinely embedding their messaging within quality, high-attention, and trusted environments.