‘Diminishes us as a country’: What we lose when Govt gives $16m in ad money to social media

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

Government agencies spent $14.43m with Google and Meta, more than the $13.7m spent with major NZ media companies combined.

Journalist numbers in New Zealand have fallen from more than 4,000 in 2006 to about 1,400 today.

Digital advertising revenue has exploded from $65m in 2006 to nearly $3 billion in 2025.

Critics say advertising dollars flowing offshore are accelerating the decline of local journalism.

Efforts to make tech giants pay for New Zealand news content have stalled.

From social media bans for under 16s, legislation to get them paying for the news they use or closing tax loopholes - New Zealand has looked into plenty of ways to regulate big tech.

But while we struggle to actually implement any of those ideas, we continue to send millions of tax payer dollars offshore in advertising revenue to line tech titans’ already deep pockets.

Based on OIAs of 153 Government entities, Stuff has revealed that more taxpayer cash was spent advertising with Alphabet (owners of Google) and Meta ($14.43m combined), than advertising with or subscribing to major local media brands combined ($13.7m).

Stuff Explainer Editor Lloyd Burr can give you a full breakdown of the OIAs and social media spending by department in article form here or in the interactive graph below.

Gavin Ellis is a media critic and former Editor-in-Chief of the New Zealand Herald, finishing his tenure in 2004 as the digital transformation was beginning.

When I asked him what we lose when we send our ad money offshore instead of keeping it local, he was blunt.

“Fundamentally we're losing journalism,” he told Stuff.

“Democracy is founded on universal access to the same information and holding power to account. Anything that diminishes that, diminishes us as a country and until we can find a way to overcome that, our media is going to continue to decline.”

Ellis argues the dominance of digital advertising, particularly on social media, correlates almost exactly with the decline of journalism in New Zealand.

The number of journalists employed in New Zealand has fallen from more than 4000 in 2006 to around 1400 today.

That is roughly 900 fewer than are currently employed by the New York Times.

The Advertising Standards Authority reports on the total advertising market spend in New Zealand annually. In 2006 digital advertising revenue was about $65 million.

Then in 2007 the iPhone launched and suddenly each one of us had an endlessly refreshing virtual billboard we carried in our pocket and the advertising industry completely transformed.

In 2025, digital revenue was close to $3 billion, more than double all other traditional advertising combined.

“Every newsroom has cut its staff,” explains Ellis.

“Some newsrooms have ceased to exist, publications have ceased to exist and what have we got in their place? We've got a system where the detrimental effects economically, socially, culturally, and psychologically far outweigh any benefits we get from any of those platforms.”

While digital advertising earns billions, the vast majority of that revenue heads overseas, in corporate charges that avoid tax. We have made efforts at change here but they have fizzled.

Introduced by the previous Labour Government, the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill was designed to get the likes of Google and Meta to pay for news content used on the platforms, offsetting what they take in advertising dollars.

If passed, the bill could help news companies secure tens of millions. Despite being picked up by the National Government, it has recently stalled.

Media Minister Paul Goldsmith alluded to the second Trump Presidency being behind the delay in progressing the bill.

Trump has been critical of nations introducing legislation or taxes targeting US tech giants, even threatening them with tariffs.

Ellis says a combination of “impotence” by our own leaders and the aggressive stance of Trump 2.0 has stymied efforts to fix the fundamentals of our broken media market.

“Our ability to tax them is laughable and the ability internationally to bring them to heel financially has been effectively stopped by Trump's absolute disdain for international rule of law.”

What our own media says

Stuff went to the local media who are scrapping for an ever smaller pile of advertising dollars while trying to hold the wealthiest corporations to ever exist accountable.

Here’s what they had to say.

“If a Government’s main job is to protect its citizens from harm, you have to ask whether it is right for it to spend so much public money with global giants whose unregulated platforms have been proven to cause multiple harms to those citizens,” Stuff Group Owner and Publisher Sinead Boucher said.

“That includes the harm caused by social media algorithms to our young people, the rampant financial scams on the platforms, and the dissemination of fake news and disinformation from which they profit.”

“There is absolutely no need for the Government to do so. Stuff alone reaches almost 90% of Kiwis aged over 15, and we are just one of many local media players. International studies have proven that advertising in trustworthy news environments delivers far greater engagement than advertising in other content, and we do it safely, while paying our tax and investing in journalism, which is a cornerstone of our democracy.

“The Government cannot say local journalism matters to it, and then choose to spend so much of its advertising budget with platforms that do not contribute to that journalism, or play their part in a functioning society. The Government should put public advertising where it supports public value and builds local communities. It is one way it can strengthen our information ecosystem and sustain quality journalism in New Zealand.”

NZME CEO Michael Boggs: “Advertising revenue helps fund New Zealand’s newsrooms, and the growing shift of ad spend toward global digital platforms, including by government departments, is an ongoing challenge for local media. Investing in local media doesn't just reach New Zealand audiences effectively - it also supports the independent journalism that a healthy democracy relies on.

“We’re also urging the government to support a fair payment framework requiring platforms to compensate local media for the content they scrape to train their AI products – a clear breach of copyright and of our terms of use. These global platforms are extracting real commercial value from journalism produced by our reporters, without paying for it, and that needs to change to ensure the ongoing sustainability of our media industry.”

The News Publishers Association, the industry body representing most New Zealand print media, said: “The decision to direct advertising spend to global tech platforms has significant consequences for local communities. New Zealand media companies reach large audiences, but unlike global platforms they also employ local people and reinvest in the country.

“Keeping advertising spend within New Zealand helps sustain strong, independent newsrooms—ensuring communities remain well-informed and public institutions are held to account.”

Rachael Howard, Head of Corporate Affairs at TVNZ: “Government advertising should work hard for New Zealanders - that means prioritising New Zealand platforms.

“When taxpayer-funded campaigns are placed with local media, that investment supports economic growth, creates jobs, pays tax, and helps fund the telling of New Zealand stories. Global platforms such as Meta and Alphabet do not make the same contribution to Aotearoa.”

TVNZ is simultaneously one of the biggest recipients of local media advertising spend and one of the biggest spenders on social media, due to its dual nature as a tax payer funded but advertising supported commercial media company.

The organisation spent $1m of tax payer money in ‘international’ advertising in 2025 but declined our request to provide a breakdown of where that spend was going.