The print newspaper, which funded VG’s early digital transformation efforts, still publishes six days a week. But today, it’s no longer a major part of the business.
“If we shut it [newspaper] down tomorrow, we would still be profitable. That’s an important milestone,” said Christian Haneborg, Executive Vice President of Advertising Business at Schibsted Media, during our Digital Media India conference in Chennai.
Today, about 2.4 million people in Norway – nearly half the population – visit VG’s digital platforms every day. The front page alone pulls in 1.7 million daily users.
In 2024, VG made around $160 million from digital revenue alone. The first quarter of 2025 showed more than 10 percent growth.
Even so, the company is still looking to diversify its revenue streams.
Affiliate marketing enters the mix
VG is focused on growing both advertising and subscriptions. Ads make up 65 percent of revenue, subscriptions 35 percent. Today, the vast majority of revenue from both is digital.
While those are still the core, “we see affiliate marketing as the third revenue pillar for a digital driven news site,” Haneborg said.
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based revenue model where publishers earn commission by referring readers to products or services, typically via tracked links – but with no sales reps included.
It also helps use leftover ad inventory. Instead of discounting ads for premium clients, VG can push that traffic toward affiliate campaigns. The clients are different, and the returns can be better.
Affiliate also gives real-time data on how traffic performs. It’s clear what converts, and how much partners are willing to pay.
“It can demonstrate the value of our publications by showing the ROI of our traffic and can be used both as a selling point and in price negotiations with advertisers,” he said.
Revenue teams compete for commercial space
VG runs three revenue teams – ads, subscriptions, and affiliate. They all compete for the same commercial inventory and who gets it depends on the performance.
Each team is measured on things such as click-through rates, eCPM (ad revenue generated per 1,000 impressions), revenue, churn, and average revenue per unit. The team delivering the most value per page view gets more traffic.
If the affiliate team wins, they take over space that might otherwise be used for traditional ads.
“Affiliate revenue crossed $10 million in 2024 and is projected to hit $11 million in 2025,” Haneborg said, adding, “and that’s with a team of just 10 people.”
Three core pillars of VG’s affiliate business
VG’s affiliate strategy runs on three main pillars. Each one is aimed at making money from existing traffic in different ways.
- Editorial content
The first area is editorial. Product reviews, recommendations, and topic coverage sometimes include affiliate links. These links show up in book or movie reviews, or in sports content related to online betting. Most of this comes through niche sites.
The newsroom writes the content. A separate system adds the links. For example, a book review might automatically include a link to buy the book. A finance article might include a loan calculator. These tools help readers make decisions and bring in revenue.
- Commercial content
The second area is commercial content, created by a separate team. This includes shopping guides, consumer stories, and partnerships.
One example is Black Week Studio. For a full week, a team of three or four people runs the operation 24/7, scanning the market for deals. They update stories based on trends and commission rates. Whenever someone clicks and buys, VG earns a commission.
“We generated roughly $2 million in affiliate revenue just by helping users navigate the many offers during Black Week,” Haneborg said.
- New business tools
The third area is new digital products built by VG Lab (VG’s innovation hub) and the business development team. These are tools and services for users – comparison sites, calculators, and other utilities tied to affiliate partners.
One example is Ønsk, a wish-list app in Norway. It’s used mostly by people aged 13 to 25. It’s a digital wish-list that can be shared with family and friends – for Christmas, birthdays or other gatherings, for instance. When people create these lists and click on the shopping links, we get paid through affiliate networks.
So far, more than 85,000 people have used Ønsk to save over 1 million wishes. Each wish results in about 2.2 clicks to retailers. If a product comes from one of Ønsk’s 650 partners, VG gets paid.
Ønsk reaches a different kind of audience and brings in revenue outside VG’s main platform.
Although VG started its affiliate business on a small scale, it’s now become a major part of its digital strategy.
Without compromising its editorial independence and leveraging its millions of visitors and readers, VG has found new ways to turn traffic into revenue.
WAN-IFRA Members can access Christian Haneborg’s full session from DM India on our Knowledge Hub