Marketing insights that will shape 2026

2025 has been a demanding year. More rules. More complexity. Higher expectations. And less time. Staying visible in a landscape that shifted faster than anyone predicted has not been easy. Still, you made it through by navigating changes, finding solutions and keeping your campaigns moving forward.

Before you close your laptop for a well-earned holiday, here is a quick look at what this year revealed.

In this article you'll get a clear sense of how people actually read across the Nordics this year, how privacy and Non-Consent shaped performance, why transparency became so important, and the product improvements that helped campaigns work smarter in 2025.

A year shaped by two clear developments

Across all categories and markets, two patterns defined the year.

People read with intention. Readers moved quickly between topics, but stayed longer the moment something felt relevant, useful or close to home. Relevance has never mattered more.

Consent behaviour also changed. Across the Nordics we continued to see more users choosing not to be tracked when they were given a real and transparent choice. Regulators reinforced the principle of equal choice which requires that rejecting tracking must be as easy as accepting it. When this became the standard, user behaviour followed.

For you as a marketer this means one thing. Relevance must come from context, not cookies.

Regulations that changed the rules for everyone

2025 was the year where regulation directly shaped marketing strategy rather than sitting in the background.

The EU introduced the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation which placed strict requirements on political ads. Several global platforms responded by limiting or removing political formats instead of rebuilding their systems to comply. This shift created new uncertainty for advertisers and highlighted how dependent many campaigns still are on closed ecosystems.

Across the Nordics new digital security laws also made their way into the marketing space. With stronger expectations around data handling, supply chain security and platform transparency, trust became a real performance factor.

The Digital Fairness Act (DFA) reinforced this direction by addressing dark patterns, unfair pricing models and unclear consent flows across Europe. Consumers noticed. People no longer expect brands just to follow the rules. They expect communication that respects boundaries and earns trust.

The message across all markets was consistent. Stay transparent, stay safe and stay close to what people actually care about.

We wrote more about this shift earlier in the year if you want the full picture (article in Norwegian): Why 2025 Marked a Turning Point for Political Communication.

Big Tech reached a trust breaking point

Earlier this year we wrote about the growing fatigue around Big Tech’s lack of transparency. Algorithms that reward outrage, unclear targeting systems and an ever increasing list of data scandals raised new questions for marketers about control and responsibility.

If you want a deeper dive into why marketers grew tired of closed systems this year, you can read more here: The Dark Side of Big Tech and Why Marketers Are Shifting Towards Transparency

At the same time many advertisers struggled with hidden placements, limited insight and results that were difficult to trace. Many realised that if you cannot see where your ads appear or understand who actually sees them, the value of the channel becomes uncertain.

Curious about how brand safety and sales actually support each other? This post breaks it down: Safety Meets Sales: How to Avoid the Black Hole.

2025 was the year transparency became a real expectation, not an optional feature.

Privacy became a strategic advantage

Across Norway, Sweden and Denmark a new understanding took shape. Privacy is not just a legal requirement. It is part of a brand’s personality. People respond to brands that show respect, clarity and honesty. They also reward communication that does not follow them but meets them where their attention already is.

Contextual advertising moved from being a safe alternative to becoming a preferred strategy for many marketers. When personal data is restricted and trust matters more, context provides stability and relevance without crossing personal boundaries.

Real-time relevance shaped how messages performed

Political communication gave us a clear preview of the future. When a topic gained momentum, parties had minutes, not hours, to respond. Relevance and timing merged into one discipline. Speed alone was not enough. Trust and clarity were equally important.

This same pattern appeared in commercial categories. When news cycles shifted toward personal finance, wellness, technology or seasonal moments, contextual campaigns performed best because they followed intention, not identity.

Real-time marketing is not just about reacting quickly. It is about meeting people exactly when their interest appears.

If you’re interested in how real-time communication changed this year’s campaigns, you can read more here: How Real-Time Communication Became Essential in 2025.

Reading patterns across the Nordics

Across Sweden, Denmark and Norway more than 62 billion impressions and nearly 2 million articles were indexed in the Kobler platform this year.

Even though the countries differ in size and media habits, a clear pattern emerged.

Norway and Denmark spent most of the year reading political stories especially during key moments and public debates. Sweden had a different rhythm with sports dominating the top of the lists and strong peaks around major tournaments and seasonal highlights.

Different interests but one shared behaviour. People read what matters to them and relevance drives attention.

What people read the most this year

Norway
The three most-read stories in Norway this year were not breaking news or political scandals. They were everyday moments people recognised and cared about: a warm summer piece from VG, Tek.no’s Black Week guide and a real-time update on energy prices from Adresseavisen.

Norway was not alone in this. Sweden showed the same pattern.

Sweden
Aftonbladet’s live coverage of the final of Sweden’s Eurovision Song Contest selection, Svenska Dagbladet’s feature on a Swedish family who struck gold in the US and Aftonbladet’s reporting on the European security situation all captured strong attention.

Different stories, but the same behaviour.
People read what matters to them.
That is the power of context

Product developments that shaped the year

Three innovations made a real difference in 2025.

Smarter Pricing delivered lower CPMs without extra work for advertisers. Many campaigns saw up to a 25 percent reduction in cost while maintaining strong visibility. This gave marketers more room to manoeuvre and more value for each invested krone.

If you want the full breakdown of how the new pricing model works, you can read more here: Smarter Pricing, Better Results — How Our New Pricing Algorithm Changes the Game.

Powered by Kobler helped publishers scale contextual advertising across large networks. Polaris Media went live across 67 sites and saw segment volumes increase five to seven times with more than 75 contextual campaigns running within the first weeks. This set a new standard for contextual quality in the region.

If you want to see how publishers scaled contextual advertising this year, this article goes deeper: Scaling Contextual Advertising: How Polaris Media Is Leading the Way with Powered by Kobler.

Political advertising compliant with the new EU rules reached the market just before year-end. During the Norwegian 2025 election Kobler became the most widely used platform for political advertising on premium publishers. These learnings have shaped our product design and workflows so political campaigns in Kobler are now just as easy, predictable and efficient as any other campaign in the platform.

We are well positioned to support advertisers and publishers with the same level of quality, transparency and privacy you already rely on.

If you want a deeper look into how political advertising is evolving across the Nordic markets, our COO for Publisher Partnerships, Karim Ghouas, joined the LiveWrapped podcast in October to discuss advertiser expectations, compliance and what publishers should prepare for in 2026.

You can listen to the episode here:

Apple Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/gr/podcast/14-kobler-livewrapped-discuss-political-advertising/id1573436427?i=1000735571207

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episo...

Together these developments showed that contextual advertising is not only safer. It is becoming smarter, more scalable and more cost-efficient. If you want to dive further into how to stretch your budget in a smarter way, you can read more here: How to Maximize Your Marketing Budget in 2025.

What this means for your 2026 planning

2025 made one thing clear. Reaching people still matters, but how you reach them matters even more. As audiences move between channels and formats, the brands that succeed are the ones that combine reach with relevance, being present in trusted environments and showing up in the moments where interest is already forming.

Next year you can expect even stronger emphasis on privacy, transparency and context. Cookies will matter less. Non-consent traffic will grow. Regulations will tighten. Global platforms will continue to adjust their policies. Publishers will continue strengthening their contextual products. And relevance in safe, trustworthy placements will matter more than ever.

With Kobler you appear where intent already exists in the articles people choose to read in trusted environments, without cookies and without uncertainty.

Before you step into the new year

Thank you for being part of 2025.
We hope these insights give you clarity and calm as you prepare for the new year.

And when you are ready to plan smarter for 2026 with more control, more context and more confidence, we are here to help.

From all of us at Kobler
We wish you a peaceful holiday and an inspiring start to the new year.