Cost-of-living pressures drove Australians online, searching for cheaper insurance, groceries, reward programs and utilities in April – Ipsos iris data

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Cost-of-living pressures drove Australians online, searching for cheaper insurance, groceries, reward programs and utilities in April – Ipsos iris data

More than 21 million people used a news website or app in April

 

22 May 2026 – As the ongoing cost-of-living crisis drove Australians online in search of financial relief, new Ipsos iris data for April, has revealed that audiences for a number of insurance, groceries, rewards and cashback brands grew month-on-month.

Last month, audience for Australian car and home insurer, Budget Direct, increased by 33.3% month-on-month, rising from 1.1 million to 1.49 million, as people sought out cheaper insurance options. Some online supermarket audiences also grew, with users spending longer looking for value while they planned their weekly shop. According to the new data, audience numbers for Coles Group grew month-on-month in April from 11.2 million to 12 million.
Comparison site Canstar also recorded a large uptick in audience year-on-year, up 40.6%, from 1.29 million to 1.85 million.

Everyday Rewards year-on-year total audience growth was up 15.8%, from 10.1 million to 11.7 million, the highest on record. Rewards programs, coupon code websites and apps have proven most popular with Gen Z and millennial audiences. Eighteen to 39-year-olds make up 40% of the audience for Everyday Rewards, compared to just 11% of those aged over 65.

Similarly, cashback and coupons website ShopBack saw its year-on-year audience grow by 41.9%, from 4.4 million to 6.3 million. OzBargain audience also increased 21.6% year-on-year from 1.7 million to 2.1 million. ShopBack and bargain-hunting website OzBargain also saw their largest audience composition come from those aged 18 – 39, making up 40% and nearly 51% respectively.

The findings align with broader consumer sentiment. According to the Ipsos Issues Monitor released last month, cost-of-living continued to be the top concern for Australians, with 63% of those surveyed naming it as their number one worry.

ANZAC Day services, Ben Roberts-Smith’s arrest and ongoing fuel crisis dominate online news content in April

Ipsos iris data shows 21.5 million people used a news website or app in April, reaching 95.4% of online Australians aged 14+.

 

Career category continues to dominate

The career category continued to grow in April, recording the highest audience growth year-on-year for the second month in a row, increasing by 9.8%. This was followed by automotive (+7.2%), homes and property (+ 4.4%), energy suppliers/utilities (+3.4%) and entertainment (+2.9%).

Ipsos iris, Australia’s digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia, showed that a total of 22.57 million Australians aged 14+ used the internet in April, up 2% compared to the same time last year, and spent an average of 5 hours daily online, up 2.6% year on year.

The most consumed categories in April were social networking (22.5 million), online media (22.48 million), search engines (22.46 million), technology (22.36 million), and entertainment (22.28 million).

Ipsos iris provides accurate data about the 22.57 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone, PC/laptop and tablet devices.

 

Notes for editors:

  • Ipsos iris is an independent source of truth for the media industry providing a level playing field for comparison of audience reach and characteristics and supporting the $18.4 billion Australian online advertising market (Source; IAB Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report prepared by PWC CY25)
  • Ipsos iris provides accuracy in solving cross-device deduplication, the biggest challenge in measuring online audiences, using a single-source multi-device panel measuring activity on 8,000 smartphone, PC, laptop and tablet devices
  • Ipsos iris provides accurate data about the number of people who visit the content of digital publishers and platforms, along with the frequency of visits and time spent by tracking digital audience behaviour across desktop/laptop, smartphone, and tablets.  It uses a hybrid methodology that combines metered data from a high quality, nationally representative, single-source passive panel with site-centric census measurement via media owner tagging.
  • In February 2024, the CTV audience currency integration from a data partnership with OzTAM launched, providing total unduplicated digital audience currency data for BVOD across CTV, smartphones, tablets, and computers.
  • In August 2024, enriched YouTube audience reach and watch time data for Connected TV across mobile, desktop and tablets was integrated into Ipsos iris, in collaboration with Google and IAB Australia.
  • Ipsos iris is fully privacy compliant and cross-media ready and will continue to evolve with a roadmap of enhancements over 2024 and beyond. It will also be adaptable to changing requirements as the industry develops in future years.
  • The launch of Ipsos iris with monthly data from January 2023 was the culmination of extensive work by the IAB and its Measurement Council that commenced in early 2021 with a strategic review of industry requirements. Ipsos was awarded the IAB’s endorsement, having best met the standards on criteria across all areas of product along with criteria for operations and a future roadmap.
  • Further information can be found at: https://iris-au.ipsos.com/