A significant revenue gap exists between Pakistani and U.S. websites. Despite similar audience sizes, Pakistani sites earn 32 times less than their American counterparts. This gap has persisted for over 15 years, making it difficult for Pakistani digital media companies to sustain their operations.
Sluggish Economy Drains Pakistani Ad Revenue
When there are no ads, websites make no money. About 70% of ads on Pakistani websites are not used. This means only 30% of ads can make money, but they don’t pay much.
It’s very unusual to have so many ads not used—up to 70% in some cases, and even 80% for Urdu content. The economy is slow, and companies have less money for ads. There is no quick fix for this problem.
In places like India and the Middle East, they don’t have as many unused ads. This is a big problem only in Pakistan. One idea is to sell ads directly to local companies instead of using Google. But not many local companies want ads right now.
This tough situation is why there are so few new websites starting up. Most need a lot of money to begin. This hurts the whole digital publishing business in Pakistan. Things need to change for the business to do well.
To read our blog on “Twitter will allow publishers to charge per article, Musk,” click here.
