One year after the implementation of Bill C-18, which led to the removal of news publishers from Meta platforms, how are local media outlets faring?

In 2024, three major players—Google, Meta, and Amazon—control 74% of digital ad spending in Canada. Google and Meta have seen slight declines in market share, while Amazon has experienced sustained growth over the past two years. The launch of Amazon's video offering in February is expected to accelerate this growth in the coming years. Without delving into all subtypes of digital channels, the combined share of GAFAM is slowly decreasing, though they remain largely dominant.

The digital market is growing faster than the dominant players in Canada, creating some opportunities for local publishers to generate growth, albeit limited. However, competition is diversifying, particularly in the video space, putting additional pressure on many media outlets to reposition themselves.

According to SimilarWeb data, a downward trend in visits to Canadian news sites has been observed since 2022, well before Meta excluded news sites from its platforms in August 2023. Overall, this decline has not accelerated significantly from month to month following Meta's decision. In other words, global data do not indicate a specific impact of Meta on news publishers following Bill C-18. However, journalism content creators are best placed to speak to the effects of this change on them. We reached out to some local publishers to get a sense of the market and illustrate their reality.

The biggest current challenge for Canadian publishers seems to be reaching their audiences across multiple platforms while balancing the use of the "big players'" channels and supporting platforms owned by the publishers themselves. We are in a context of great paradox.

"Despite the fact that news is no longer accessible in Meta's ecosystem, part of the population says they still get their news on these platforms."

From the agencies' point of view, we have observed an acceleration of developments from some media partners since last year, whether in the deployment of new ad products or the increase in technological capabilities.

When asked about their vision for the next five years, the media outlets we interviewed foresee the acceleration of two opposing yet connected phenomena: convergence and fragmentation. Convergence will be driven by social platforms and companies developing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, which hold the keys to the evolution of information consumption. This evolution could lead to the disappearance of smaller players and harm the quality of information.

"Media is food for the mind and soul, and consuming empty calories carries long-term risks."

This view is echoed by Patrick Salois, Vice President of Sales and Operations at La Presse, who stresses the need to raise awareness among the public and decision-makers about the importance of independent local journalism. He also promotes growth through technological investment and revenue diversification to reduce dependence on advertising revenue.

Fragmentation will partly come from this need for independence, for example through nanomedia, micro-social platforms, and perhaps micro-mags, like those launched by Urbania, to maintain direct contact with readers and offer new subscription opportunities.

The creation of video inventories in all its forms has become a priority, along with the development of ad formats dedicated to digital performance, the integration of "clean room" technologies, the valorization of connected user data, and a renewed approach to campaign measurement. Although the volume of data, access to conversion APIs, and the appeal of video or social platforms continue to give GAFAM an advantage, the efforts of local partners contribute to rebalancing their share in media planning.

The most critical changes to face the future seem to revolve around efforts to raise awareness among Canadian decision-makers and the population about the importance of independent local journalism.

"Another misconception is that Canadian content is less competitive on the international stage, while local media play a crucial role in offering coverage tailored to the realities and needs of the Canadian public."

Redefining the notion of performance is a challenge that all market players have embraced, though not all are ready to support advertisers in this shift. A consolidation of efforts and support from professional associations such as A2C or CMDC aims to promote training and the dissemination of best practices in advertising buying and optimization.

Some media groups acknowledge that they should have anticipated the growth of global digital platforms by investing earlier in solutions to reduce their dependence on these platforms. This evolution, which initially benefited everyone, did not reveal the urgency to act differently. Lessons have been learned, and media outlets are now taking control of their destiny for the next phase of transformation.

"We live in an era where nothing is guaranteed, and everything is changing faster and faster."

Never again will we put our fate in the hands of Zuck or Musk."

Touché! would like to thank Patrick Salois of La Presse, Émilie Filion and Christophe Cluzel of SRC, and Philippe Lamarre of Urbania for their insights and participation in this article.