Advertising demand for bloggers dropped by 15-25% in the year 2025
In the ever-evolving world of advertising, a significant shift has taken place in the first half of 2025. Marketers are increasingly favouring news channels and micro-influencers, moving away from traditional bloggers, as these new platforms better match the consumer media habits of younger audiences and deliver stronger engagement and return on investment.
This trend is primarily driven by changing content consumption preferences. Millennials and Gen Z, key target demographics, are more inclined towards visual storytelling and interactive content, leading to a pivot towards video-based platforms and news channels that provide frequent, visual, and topical content.
The rise of micro and nano-influencers is another contributing factor. While influencer marketing remains important, the focus has shifted from macro influencers and bloggers to smaller creators who excel at engagement and authenticity within niche communities. These smaller influencers prioritize creation over traditional blog-based advertising.
Interactive and personalized advertising trends are also playing a significant role. The interactive advertising market is growing rapidly, incorporating AI personalization, video and audio interactive ads, and experiential marketing. News channels, often leveraging connected TV (CTV) and other emerging ad platforms, can offer advertisers more innovative and engaging formats than static blog ads.
Authenticity and trust are key factors in this shift. News channels and niche video creators can deliver timely, credible, and community-aligned messaging, resonating better with younger consumers who demand authenticity and brand alignment.
This shift is reflected in the ad demand figures. Advertiser demand for news channels increased by 20-25% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, while demand for family blogs has decreased by 15-25% compared to the first half of 2024. The market for online advertising by small and medium-sized businesses grew by 23% in monetary terms in 2024.
The "humor" category and "beauty" followed news channels in terms of increased demand, with +15% and +10-15% respectively. There is also growing interest in the "travel," "health," "lifestyle," "fitness," and "culture" segments.
In the Ural region, "Delovoy Kvartal" stands out as the only printed magazine in the top 25 Ural media. The "Delovoy Kvartal" company's media projects have been consistently ranking in the top 25 Ural media for the fifth year in a row, although Zen, Zen.News, email newsletter, Telegram, and VKontakte are not specified as their media projects.
Advertisers are now favouring influencer channels with audiences of up to 50,000 and up to 10,000 subscribers. From September 1, advertisers and ad distributors face fines for advertising on banned internet platforms, including social media, a similar ban that is already in place for advertising on resources of foreign agents.
Roskomnadzor strongly recommends moving advertising to Russian internet platforms and removing previously posted content on foreign platforms. This recommendation aligns with the shifting trends in advertising, as advertisers move towards more interactive and authentic platforms that better resonate with their target audiences.
- In light of the changing advertising landscape, technology plays a crucial role in enhancing the authenticity and interactivity of channels, with news channels leveraging connected TV (CTV) and video-based content to deliver more engaging formats.
- The rise of micro and nano-influencers, who prioritize creation and authenticity within niche communities, has also positively influenced the lifestyle, travel, health, fitness, and culture segments, as these influencers better resonate with the demands of younger consumers.
