This week’s Media Briefing takes a look at how the first few weeks of Q2 have fared for publishers’ advertising businesses based on what media buyers are seeing in regards to advertisers’ budgets and delayed budget approvals.

The first quarter was chock full of uncertainty for publishers across the board when it came to how their advertising businesses would net out. The crystal ball seemed to clear last month for some larger publishers, though, as deals earmarked for Q1 came into fruition for Q2, making the second quarter seemingly more lucrative compared to the previous three months.

Other small- to mid-sized publishers and media buyers are still uncertain about the state of the second quarter after seeing even more deals get bumped into the second half of the year, leaving Q2 just as precarious as Q1.

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Not all advertisers can or want to secure longer-term deals, said Stacey Stewart, chief marketplace officer at UM Worldwide. “People want to keep a lot of flexibility right now so we’re not seeing a lot of longer term investments,” she said. This trend began about a year ago during the 2022 upfront cycle where clients began cutting back on year-round deals and that trend “continues to this day,” she said.

Read more in Digiday.