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Home » Blogs » Monetizing News Apps with Ads and Subscriptions
By Gaurav Parvadiya | Last Updated On November 15th, 2025
Within today’s proliferating digital ecosystem, news apps are often under-appreciated and considered as just another digital medium to publish news. But what if your app could turn into a highly profitable and self-sustaining revenue generator? The truth is, having a mobile news application is one of the best monetizable digital assets in the world today — as long as it is monetized appropriately.
Sadly, a good number of publishers are caught in a paradox in wanting to maximize revenue without compromising the user experience. Their approach to dealing with the paradox is wrong, and has resulted in user churn, stagnant income, and other types of frustration. What if there’s a way to escape the paradox? The answer lies in the adoption of a modern, data-driven, hybrid monetization approach with the aid of agile no-code solutions to maximize monetization of your news app with minimal effort using targeted advertising, subscriptions, or other novel techniques while increasing loyalty and user engagement.
As reported by Statista, in 2023, digital news advertising revenues reached a staggering 70 billion dollars, with mobile devices being 75% of the total digital advertising expenditure. Moreover, the subscription driven digital news market is expected to grow by about 10% for the next five years. Together, these statistics indicate a huge and profitable market, which many news publishers and their publishers are just scratching the surface of.
However, the ability to tap into the digital news market requires more than simple advertising at the bottom of an article or the placement of rigid ‘paywalls’ on the content but rather dynamic and tailored avenues for monetization which considers the changing user behavior, expectations, and new technological advancements.
Publishers have mainly relied on banner advertising, paywalls and universal subscription options. This is a clear indication of the inability of firms to respond to the changing demands of the market. Here’s why:
With greater competition, changing dynamic of customer demands, it is has become clear that there is a need for more sophisticated strategy that combines advertising and subscriptions to carefully crafted, immersive user experiences.
A hybrid approach to monetization merges more than one revenue model so publishers can maximize revenue without compromising on user satisfaction or experience. Rather than forcing users to choose between unwelcomed advertisements or paywall content, informed publishers know how professionally to utilize both for greater user trust and profitability.
An example of hybrid model can be seen in The Guardian, which offers free, ad supported access while incentivizing subscriptions through premium features such as ad free reading, early access content, and exclusive materials. About 60 percent of their revenue is a reflection of this model. This highlights the power a hybrid strategy can have.
Users want more than content. They want experiences that are crafted for them, and this is in turn is reflected on click through rates, conversions, and user retention. When users feel content and offers are designed for them, the likelihood of subscription and relevant advertisement engagement soars.
While personalization has become essential, it remains dependent on analyzing data in real time and managing content with high levels of flexibility. Responding with agility remains a challenge for traditional systems, as they tend to introduce delays in workflows. This is where no-code, agile platforms like Twinr become invaluable—they allow publishers to personalize and update content within minutes instead of months.
No code solutions allow teams to develop and deploy feature rich news apps in record time. Trying to add new contextual ads or exclusive paywall tiers? No need to hire a developer, go ahead and make the changes in real time. This is the value of flexibility, which is the most important currency modern platforms offer, is essential, as it is provided at the right time, when user data is most valuable and systems need alterations to layouts, content hierarchies or monetization changes.
With no-code platforms, all team members have access to user analytics which allow them to understand user journeys. Push notifications, content supply, and advertisements targeted to specific users, offer personalized, proactive engagement with users — and most users do not even have to wait for developer work. This is in line with the research by McKinsey, which proves that personalized experiences have the power to increase engagement levels by more than 50 percent.
Real-time tracking of how monetization strategies perform—subscription conversion rates (SVR) and ad click-through rates (CTR)— has analytics capability. Modern, no-code platforms have embedded analytics that automatically track monetization strategies. This data-driven approach lets you adjust your strategies in real-time, allowing you to outsmart your competitors regardless of challenges in the market.
A regional publisher in Europe used Twinr to create and launch a new news app in dummy weeks. He achieved more than 35% increase in ad revenue and 20% uplift in subscriptions in just three months with a hybrid monetization model that seamlessly incorporated tiered subscriptions, personalized content, and native ads. This example demonstrates the value that can be derived from rapid, adaptive, no-code tools development.
To further optimize the revenue of your news app, you might consider the implementation of the following:
Analyze your database and determine where the most value is. Exclusive subscription packages, high-value readers, and interest-focused ads are at your communication disposal to optimize the readers’ lifetime value.
Offer ad-supported free access with premium levels that include ad-free, exclusive, or early access. This appeals to casual readers, and loyal ad-free enthusiasts.
Position native ads seamlessly within articles and other multimedia content. This promotes its dominant focus and the user experience, ultimately leading to increased engagement and conversion.
Use subscription data to gain savings, discounts, suggested bundles, and content optimized offers that boost the average conversion rates.
Use A/B testing for the paywalls, ad placements, and content strategies concerning testing and monetization. Being responsive to the analytics and insights will ensure that these strategies continue to perform relevant.
In the future, a few important trends will influence monetizing the news applications.
The market continues to change and with it, these new expectations are driven by technology and demand for more personalized, seamless, and relevant interactions.
In a competitive landscape, speed and agility are paramount. Twinr enables your team to:
These core pillars provide an avenue for publishers to generate sustainable, diversified revenue streams while keeping user satisfaction a top priority.
The potential to monetize your news app certainly doesn’t have to be limited to outdated thinking or slow development timelines. “You can have the sophistication of rapid personalization and sustainable revenue development with hybrid models that use no code approaches with platforms like Twinr.”
Are you prepared to understand the smarter and faster approaches to monetizing your brand? Sign up to experience a free demo of Twinr and learn how to turn your news app into a monetizing machine.
Q1: How would you monetize a news app today?
The monetization that yields the greatest return uses hybrid personalization approaches that combine targeted native advertising with tiered subscriptions.
Q2: How do I increase paid subscriptions while still catering to casual readers?
Freemium models, personalized content and user-tailored offers, and reputable paywalls that order value are popular techniques that can be used again and again with no-code development.
Q3: Is the use of native advertising better than traditional display banner ads?
Without a doubt. Native ads are less disruptive to readers, so users are more likely to be engaged and not lose trust, which is crucial for news apps.
Q4: How can personalization boost monetization?
Personalization boosts engagement, ad revenue, and conversion rates to subscriptions. Personalization boosts revenue and conversion rates to subscriptions up to 50% according to McKinsey.
Q5: Can I change my monetization strategy as time goes on?
Yes, for example, Twinr offers continuous testing and improvements which allows you to make changes on the fly depending on the analytics.
Gaurav is the founder and CEO of Twinr, a tech entrepreneur with a decade of experience and a passion for SaaS. With a Master's degree in Computer Science, he specializes in no-code development, driving innovation in the mobile app industry. When he's not busy growing the company, you'll find him writing about tech, growth, software development, e-commerce, and occasionally sneaking in a game of badminton.