By

Claire Lamb

19th August 2019

4 min read

Digital advertising often makes online publications frustrating to visit. You get bombarded by different advertisements, including pop-ups that cover the article you want to read, distracting flashing banner ads, autoplay videos…the list goes on! There’s nothing more annoying than being unable to find the well-disguised x button to get rid of them, or worse, accidentally clicking on the wrong part of the screen and being redirected away from your read.

While this can create an exasperating user experience, it’s a difficult dilemma for publishers. Digital advertising provides a critical source of revenue and is key to their survival. If readers have to put up with a few ads every time they want to read an article for free, is that a fair trade-off?

Why publishers still rely on advertising

Before widespread use of the internet, we paid for our news by buying newspapers. When it moved online, it was made free for all to access. Journalist, David Barnett, likened this to a high street cake shop selling cakes to customers over the counter, but then setting up a website to give away cakes for free! He also points out that, “Once people get used to having something for nothing, it’s an uphill struggle to get them to accept it has any value.”

Many publishers now use subscriptions and paywall models to fund quality journalism. But for now this alone isn’t enough. According to Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025, only 18% of people across wealthier nations pay for online news, with subscription growth plateauing in many countries. Traditional publishers still struggle to grow digital subscriptions at scale.

While most readers still don’t pay online news, concerns about fake news and misinformation is on the rise. The Reuters report found that 47% of respondents identified misinformation as a major concern, despite efforts to counter it. In an era of AI-generated content, are trusted publishers becoming more valuable than ever?

Readers haven’t just become frustrated with intrusive advertising; many are actively avoiding it. Research published in 2024 found that more than 40% of internet users globally use some form of ad blocking technology, Most cite excessive advertising, privacy and poor user experiences as the main reasons. Studies show the most common reasons for installing ad blockers are that ads are perceived as excessive, disruptive and intrusive.

What The Guardian can teach other publishers

So what’s the best way forward? The Guardian shows how successful a reader-funded model can be. In 2025 The Guardian Media Group (GMG) reported that it now has more than 1.3 million recurring supporters worldwide – an increase of over 150,000 in a single year. Digital reader revenue exceeded £107 million, and digital revenue now accounts for 72% of total revenue. This is in stark contrast to its losses of £57m ten years ago in 2015/16. This doesn’t include its one-off contributors who pay as they go.

But do news sites that stick solely to digital advertising to fund their operations need to address their user experiences? While the advertising revenue helps the publication survive, if visitors aren’t sticking around to read its content because of a frustrating user experience, what is it really offering? And for any publications considering implementing a subscription model alongside their advertising, readers are unlikely to invest if their experience is being disrupted by flashing ads and pop-ups every two seconds.

The debate is no longer simply about advertising versus subscriptions. Publishers increasingly compete on trust. News consumption is fragmented. People get their information from TikTok, YouTube, podcasts, influencers and AI-powered search tools. As a result, audiences are placing greater value on brands that offer accuracy, accountability and editorial rigour. The challenge for publishers isn’t just generating revenue, but ensuring the user experience reflects the quality and credibility of the journalism they’re asking readers to support.

As businesses, we spend a huge amount of time tweaking and perfecting our websites to improve the user experience we offer, from page load speed to navigation. Anything that could put a visitor off, disrupt their journey, or potentially impact conversion rates is treated as a big red flag. So, do online news sites need to pay more attention to the user experience they provide? In order to maintain solid commercial relationships, retain loyal readers, and perhaps even persuade them to support their journalism with a financial contribution, it’s certainly looking that way.

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