Mail Online's digital advertising growth slumps to 16%

Mail Online’s digital advertising grew 16% in the last 11 months ending August 2015, marking a significant drop from the 49% digital advertising growth the platform achieved a year previous.

Stephen Daintith, finance director at DMGT, said the company expects Mail Online to “comfortably” pass £70m for its full financial year to the end of September, The Guardian reported.

“We see the recent revenue slowdown of Mail Online (despite strong audience growth) as more structural than cyclical, with mobile, ad blocking and social media all bringing new challenges to monetisation,” said William Packer, analyst at Exane. “We now expect Mail Online to miss their £100m revenue target.”

The slowdown prompted analysts at Exane to publish a note to investors earlier this month warning that Mail Online was likely to miss its stated revenue target of £100m by the end of next year.

“We see the recent revenue slowdown of Mail Online (despite strong audience growth) as more structural than cyclical, with mobile, ad blocking and social media all bringing new challenges to monetisation,” said William Packer, analyst at Exane. “We now expect Mail Online to miss their £100m revenue target.”

Daintith said: “In light of the current performance, it remains an ambitious target but we like to set big goals,” he said. “It is fair to say it is a more challenging target than it was a year ago. It remains a terrific aspiration and an indication of the direction we are pursuing. It will be achieved in the medium term.”