South Africa, April 16 -- The advertising industry has a breaking news problem, says the Warc's Global Advertising Trends report, adding that newsbrand ad spend is forecast to remain flat through 2026.

Magazine brands are not better off with spend is forecast at $3.7bn in 2025, a 38.6% slump since 2019.

Alongside content and safety concerns, brands are favouring global digital platforms like Google and Meta for targeted, scalable ads.

Future growth hinges on first-party data, trusted environments, and revenue diversification beyond ads - such as subscriptions and direct consumer relationships.

Warc's latest Global Ad Trends report examines the shift in advertising spend from professionally produced content to user-generated content (U...