By SmartNews

The latest Digital Ads Benchmark Report from Tinuiti confirms what many performance marketers are already feeling: core platforms are getting more complex, more automated, and more competitive—often at the expense of control and predictability.

Across search, social, commerce media, and streaming, Q4 2025 data points to one clear theme: brands are being pushed to diversify beyond saturated channels to maintain efficiency and growth.

Saturation Is Rising—Even When Prices Fall

While CPMs declined across Meta and YouTube, spend growth slowed, driven by tougher year-over-year comps and heavy reliance on AI-driven buying (PMax, Advantage+, Demand Gen). Advertisers are spending more time optimizing within black-box systems—often fighting for the same audiences.

Takeaway: Lower prices don’t always mean better performance when attention is fragmented and competition is concentrated.

High-Growth Platforms Share a Common Trait: Attention

Platforms like Reddit and Pinterest saw growth (+50% and +37%), largely because they offer:

• Distinct user intent
• Contextual relevance
• Less auction crowding
  

The benchmark data reinforces a critical shift: attention and context are becoming as important as scale.

This is where premium, content-first environments stand out—especially those designed for mobile consumption.

Why This Matters

SmartNews operates in a fundamentally different part of the ecosystem:

• Users are actively reading news, not passively scrolling
• Ads appear natively in-feed, aligned with trusted editorial content
• The audience skews 35+, higher-income, and highly engaged
• Performance is measured through web conversions, CPC, and CPA, not just reach
  

As AI-driven buying expands across Google, Meta, and Amazon, SmartNews offers advertisers a way to test incremental reach in a brand-safe, first-party environment—without competing in the same crowded auctions.

The 2026 Opportunity: Smarter Mix, Not More Spend

Tinuiti’s data shows brands winning in 2026 will:

• Maintain core platform investments
• Layer in differentiated channels to stabilize performance
• Test environments where user attention is intentional
  

For many advertisers, SmartNews starts as a controlled test —designed to answer one question:
Can we reach high-value users efficiently, outside the usual platforms?

The benchmark data suggests that for brands prioritizing efficiency, trust, and attention, the answer is increasingly yes.

Ready to explore how SmartNews can complement your existing media mix? Start a test or connect with our team to learn more.