In today’s Digest, we cover Australia’s plan to tax Meta over news payments, podcast industry revenue reaching USD$7.3bn, far exceeding previous estimates, and India’s mobile app revenue hitting a record USD$345m, driven by AI and streaming.

Australia to tax Meta over news payments 

Australia has reworked its proposed News Bargaining Incentive levy, trimming what it covers even as it pushes the rate higher. Under the update, the charge climbs from 2.25% to 2.5%, but will now be calculated only against the digital advertising revenue that search and social media firms earn in Australia, rather than their broader Australian earnings. Companies including Google, TikTok, Meta, and LinkedIn can still avoid the charge by signing deals with Australian publishers, though the bar has moved: they'll now need agreements with at least six news outlets, up from four previously, collectively worth 1.5% of revenue.

Podcast industry revenue hits $7.3bn 

The global podcast industry generated USD$7.3bn (£5.77bn) in sales last year, according to a new report from research firm Owl & Co., a figure more than double most existing estimates. The vast majority of that revenue comes from advertising, with subscriptions making up the rest; the total doesn't even account for live events, such as the recently sold-out taping of The Rest Is Politics at London's O2 arena. 

Podcasting has traditionally relied on the Interactive Advertising Bureau's annual figures as its benchmark, with ad revenue this past year estimated at USD$2.4bn (£1.90bn), but that number only captures the US market and reflects audio advertising alone. Owl & Co.'s broader total incorporates video revenue as well, most notably from YouTube, which Edison Research has identified as the dominant platform for podcast listening. 

India's mobile app revenue hits record $345m

India's mobile app market reached a record USD$345m (£272.6m) in the second quarter of 2026, up 35% from a year earlier, driven by rising spending on AI, streaming, and productivity apps, according to Sensor Tower. The country recorded the fastest app revenue growth of any market in Q2, even as quarterly downloads have held steady at around 6.3 billion since 2023, meaning revenue per download has more than doubled over the past three and a half years. 

Earlier Sensor Tower data pointed to streaming, cloud, and AI utilities as the main drivers of non-gaming growth, with video entertainment apps accounting for five of the top 10 revenue-generating apps in India during the first quarter. AI apps have become an especially concentrated market: ChatGPT and Claude together made up nearly 83% of India's AI app revenue in the second quarter.

Non-gaming apps accounted for 68% of total mobile app revenue in India during the first half of 2026, and separate estimates from Appfigures suggest ChatGPT alone was generating roughly USD$60,000 (£47,400) a day in the country. The report also noted that future app store policy changes could still influence how this revenue growth develops going forward.