Guardian News and Media has seen a 50 per cent increase in digital advertising revenue in the first half of this year, managing director Tim Brooks announced today.

Speaking as part of the 'Leading the Pack' debate panel at the AOP Digital Publishing Summit, Brooks said he was "quite content" with the site's performance.

He added that the company will be focusing on the mobile and app arena, as well as other digital platforms, in the near future. The key, he said, is creativity and experimentation.

"Digital media means that you can fail more cheaply and less critically ... you have to try lots of new things because no one knows what you'll need."

Giving examples from the Guardian's own developments, he said the company's recent Eyewitness app for the iPad took less than two days to create.

"We placed some of our developers in a room and it was built in less than 48 hours ... We think one of the great, liberating things is how quickly and how simply things can be done."

"We haven't learnt the language of tablets yet ... it's far too soon to see the effects and longevity of it," he added.

But, he concluded, the opportunity from this technology is not "disabling our journalism, its enabling and enriching it".

There's more on the panel debate from Journalism.co.uk here..

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