Subscriptions, audiences, newsletters and artificial intelligence continue to reshape digital publishing strategies. To help publishers understand these changes, the qiota 2025-2026 Report, based on data collected from more than 400 news publications, analyzes the key trends shaping the industry.
Insight & Data: the qiota 2025-2026 Report
Between May 2025 and April 2026, data collected by qiota across more than 400 news publications highlights the key trends shaping the monetization of online news.
During the period analyzed, 383,000 orders were recorded, generating a total value of €10.7 million. 28.2% of purchases were generated through a paywall, while mobile now accounts for almost 40% of all orders, with 23.4% coming from Android devices and 15.5% from iOS.
Google remains the leading source of traffic
With more than 60 million visitors, Google remains by far the leading source of traffic to publishers’ websites, ahead of direct traffic, Facebook and Google News.
Subscribers read an average of 8 to 17 premium articles per month, with browsing sessions lasting between 1 and 3 minutes.
Newsletters: 693 million emails sent
During the period analyzed, 34,155 campaigns were sent, representing a total of 693 million emails.
The average open rate was 27.5%, while the click-through rate reached 4.1%. These figures confirm the central role of newsletters not only as a source of traffic, but also as a powerful tool for building direct relationships with readers, increasing engagement and strengthening loyalty.
The challenge of AI crawlers
According to Cloudflare Radar data from July 2026, Google (Search + Gemini) dominates traffic generated by AI-related crawlers, followed by Anthropic (16.3%), Meta (12.7%), OpenAI (9.7%) and Microsoft (8.9%).
For publishers, the rise of AI brings a new challenge: maintaining control over the distribution of their content and the economic value it generates, while developing strategies that balance visibility, content access and monetization.
👉 Discover how qiota helps publishers use data to better understand their audiences, optimize conversion and shape their digital strategy.