Australia’s digital news advertising sector is shifting rapidly — and at its core lies a mobile-first transformation. From the dominance of mobile formats to the rise of short-form video and native ads, media buyers and news publishers alike are recalibrating how they reach and monetise audiences.

Mobile formats take centre stage

While digital ad spend in Australia continues to rise, the format mix is telling. The IAB Australia’s Internet Advertising Revenue Report found that total internet advertising grew by 11.1  per cent in 2024 to $16.4 billion, with video investment growing 19.6  per cent to reach $4.5 billion.

Moreover, a forecast by MAGNA projected that mobile advertising would continue to dominate, constituting around 74  per cent of total digital advertising budgets.

These figures underscore that mobile (and mobile-adjacent) formats are now the primary battleground for news-advertising dollars.

Short-form video and native ads

Short-form video is becoming a key lever for news publishers and advertisers. A recent report found that 75 per cent of Australians say they have watched short online news videos, with 16 per cent doing so daily and 38 per cent weekly.

In parallel, mobile app advertising research indicates that interactive, UGC (user-generated content) formats and playable ads can drive major gains. For example, the agency Liftoff found that UGC video ads increased app-install conversion rates by 152 per cent year-on-year. 

Native advertising — seamlessly embedded ad formats within mobile content — is also increasingly used on mobile news platforms, as publishers make mobile-first placements a priority.

How media buyers are adjusting campaigns

Media buyers are recalibrating buying strategies to reflect mobile-first consumption patterns. The Video Advertising State of the Nation Report from IAB Australia shows that video now accounts for approximately 27.5 per cent of all online advertising investment, despite measurement and cross-screen tracking challenges

What this means for news-media advertising is:

• Greater emphasis on mobile video advertising (pre-roll, in-app, social video) rather than static desktop display.
• A shift toward native and in-feed ad formats engineered for mobile consumption, including vertical video, carousel units and seamless story-style ads.
• A reevaluation of measurement: advertisers demand cross-screen attribution, viewability and mobile environment quality – and news publishers must prove their mobile environments are brand-safe and effective.

News publishers’ mobile-first imperative

For news publishers, embracing mobile-first is no longer optional. With mobile devices firmly the primary access point for news for many users, publishers must optimise for mobile in both content and ad inventory. Key implications:

• Adaptive layout and ad units designed for mobile devices (vertical video, swipe-through formats, mobile native).
• Mobile-friendly ad targeting (in-app, mobile browsers, geo-location) and inventory packaging to attract mobile-focused advertisers.
• Integrating mobile audiences into first-party data strategies to deliver premium mobile ad impressions rather than treat mobile as an after-thought.
   Yet challenges remain: mobile ad environments can have lower viewability, increased ad-blocking, and more competition for users’ attention — particularly given the growth in short-form consumption and social platforms.

The ‘mobile-first’ future: outlook

As mobile formats take the lead, the future of news advertising is decidedly mobile-first – but success will depend on how well publishers and advertisers adapt. The growth of mobile video, native ad formats and mobile-targeted data strategies offers opportunity. 

At the same time, measurement, audience fragmentation and platform competition will test the value proposition of mobile news-site inventory.