Australian ad market slips 3.4% as digital spend pulls back, OOH grows again

Australia’s advertising market slipped in August, with agency media spend falling 3.4% year-on-year as weaker digital demand interrupted three consecutive months of growth.

The latest Guideline SMI figures show the decline was only the second negative month of 2026, with the broader market still up 0.7% across the first eight months of the year.

Digital was the biggest drag on the August result, currently tracking 7.1% below the same month last year, although Guideline cautioned that late bookings are still being reported.

Search, social and content sites are all currently behind August 2025 levels, while pure-play video bucked the trend with spend rising 13.8%.

Outdoor also continued its strong run, climbing 10.7% year-on-year and helping keep traditional media broadly stable.

Guideline SMI chief insights and analytics officer Sean Wright said the August decline appeared to reflect a shorter digital market rather than the beginning of a broader advertising slowdown.

“Outdoor continues to demonstrate strong momentum, while we have already seen that end-of-month results can strengthen as late Digital bookings are reported,” Wright said.

“May, June and July all moved into positive territory as additional bookings were processed, and July is now showing growth of 2.8%.

“The broader Australian ad market remains in positive territory for the calendar year, with six of the first eight months delivering growth.”

Forward bookings are also pointing to firm demand continuing into September and October.

Government advertising was one of the strongest categories during August, jumping 44.4% year-on-year, while wealth management spend increased 28.6% as Australians reconsidered investment strategies following tax reform legislation passed in June.

Performance across traditional media was mixed.

Total broadcast television spend declined 5.2% compared with August last year, radio fell 1.7% and cinema dropped 27.6%.

Newspaper advertising was down 19%, although regional press increased 18.8%. Total magazine spend slipped 1.8%, while consumer magazines recorded a 21.5% increase.

Advertising demand for the financial year to date remains broadly flat, down 0.5% compared with the same period last year.