Crypto news sites are increasingly looking to alternative monetization sources amid declining revenues from display ads.
Publishers in the crypto space have been facing declining ad revenues due to lower demand from advertisers, and web traffic also falling due to AI leading to fewer clicks to news sites.
Speaking to Bitzuma, Suliman Mulhem, the founder of publisher management agency Imperium Comms, said alternative monetization sources are growing in popularity, and publishers are becoming much more receptive to new ways to grow their revenues.
“We have witnessed a substantial increase in publishers’ interest in finding new ways to monetize web traffic since the start of 2025,” Mulhem said.
“Medium-sized publishers and even some mainstream news sites have started working with Imperium Comms to drive revenue via sponsored content, press releases and other non-traditional types of digital advertising.”
Imperium Comms was launched as a PR and SEO agency in 2019, and most of their clients are partnered agencies which white-label and resell their services, but the firm’s publisher management services now account for most of its business, highlighting how eager many publishers are to find new revenue sources.
“Because of diminishing web traffic, many publishers are looking to alternative monetization sources to stay afloat.
“In most cases, the revenue publishers generate from our alternative advertising streams entirely make up for the revenue they’ve lost due to falling ad CPMs and reduced ad impressions,” he continued.
Publications working with Imperium Comms’ publisher management agency include the likes of Reuters, Cointelegraph, International Business Times and Formula1News.co.uk, which is owned by the firm.
Google’s AI-powered snippets, designed to provide instant answers to user queries, are increasingly impacting traffic and revenue for news websites. While these AI features aim to enhance the search experience, many publishers argue they are siphoning off clicks, leaving their content under-monetized.
Traditionally, users would click through search results to access full articles, generating traffic and ad revenue for publishers. With AI snippets, Google often summarizes content directly on the search page, giving users the information they need without visiting the source website.
News organizations have reported noticeable declines in page views as a result, and many publishers are expecting more layoffs in the future as the AI rollout continues.
