According to Mari-Liis Rüütsalu, CEO of Ekspress Grupp, advertising sales have declined in Estonia and Latvia but have experienced significant growth in Lithuania. One reason for this, she noted, is that Lithuania held three elections this year, which strongly boosted advertising revenue. In Estonia, August and September were the most challenging months for the company.

"In Estonia, advertising has certainly been under pressure. However, compared to the previous economic crisis, things are going relatively well when looking at the figures from back then," Rüütsalu said.

Igor Rõtov, managing director of Äripäev, noted that the majority of their revenue comes from subscriptions, meaning the impact of advertising revenue is smaller for the company. He added that, in difficult times, the business could still operate sustainably with subscription income alone. According to Rõtov, the company's revenues this year have been relatively similar to last year's, though they have fallen short in some months.

Both executives agreed that the economic situation has not led to significant changes in advertising revenue by segment. Rüütsalu pointed out that year-over-year comparisons are challenging because advertising depends heavily on specific events occurring in a given year – such as elections, sports events or the launch of a new car model with accompanying marketing campaigns.

Compared to six months ago, Äripäev plans to reduce its cost base by approximately 5 percent but will not cut back on active investments. For instance, some publications, such as National Geographic, will continue in digital format next year.

Mari-Liis Rüütsalu refrained from specifying an exact figure, noting that the performance of the companies within the Ekspress Grupp varies. "We are certainly not cutting IT costs or compromising on our product during these times. Instead, we are investing more in these areas to position ourselves advantageously for the future," she said.

Ekspress Grupp is seeking efficiency improvements internally and is implementing new technological tools, which in some areas may also lead to a reduction in workforce needs.

Digital giants robbing locals of advertising revenue

Tech giants like Google and Facebook are taking a significant share of media outlets' advertising revenue while not being taxed on an equal basis with other media companies.

According to Mari-Liis Rüütsalu, Estonia has made little effort to determine the scale of this issue. Companies operating in the Estonian market face unequal conditions – some are taxed and subject to rising tax burdens, while others remain untaxed. "It requires political will to obtain relevant data," she said, adding that the state could also request this data directly from the companies operating in the market. Rüütsalu argued that waiting for a solution at the OECD level is unrealistic.

"Seven European countries have gone their own way and introduced their own digital taxes," she said. "We haven't even started addressing this issue."

Igor Rõtov noted that even larger countries have struggled to address this issue, acknowledging that Google and Facebook are highly efficient at running advertising operations. "The fact is that we're trying to legislate ways to get something back from them, but I'm skeptical. If we do manage to get anything, it will only be a small amount," he said.

At the same time, Rõtov acknowledged that media companies' business models are evolving. Whereas the focus used to be on generating advertising revenue, Äripäev now derives the majority of its income from subscriptions.

"This marks another shift in journalism, where publications must focus on producing higher-quality journalism," Rõtov stated. "If you have good journalism, subscribers will pay for it, and we won't have to depend on the fluctuating advertising market. I believe this change, if viewed positively, has driven media companies to invest much more in quality journalism."

Rüütsalu added that introducing a digital tax on large corporations would not mean local media companies would directly benefit from this revenue. Instead, it would ensure that all market participants are taxed equally.

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