Catena Media reported a decline in revenue of 1% in its Q2 results. The lack of growth led to an 11% decline in adjusted EBITDA. The company has made another round of layoffs as it pivots away from an SEO-based affiliate business.
Revenue for the quarter was at €9.5 million, down from €9.6 million in Q2 last year. Adjusted EBITDA dropped from €1.4 million to €1.2 million.
Revenue on Downward Trajectory
Looking at year-on-year changes only reflects part of the story. Revenue has been up and down over the past few years and is again on a downward trajectory.
The company reached a peak revenue of €16 million in Q1 2024, then fell in every quarter until Q2 last year. The second half of 2025 fared better, with the company ending the year with €15.6 million in revenue. The rise was sparked by cost optimization, which reduced the company’s workforce by over 60%.
However, Q1 saw a drop to €12.3 million, and the trend continued this quarter, with revenue falling to around the same level as in Q2 last year, at €9.5 million.
In its results presentation, the company said the pause in recent quarters of growth was due to “structural challenges that traditional affiliation is facing relating to the shifting dynamics of organic search.”
New Round of Layoffs as Business Pivots Away From SEO
Personnel expenses decreased by a further 14% as new layoffs were confirmed last week. The company said the latest cuts in tech and marketing came as part of its ongoing operational streamlining, in line with its strategy to sharpen its focus on its core products.
Senior SEO Content Strategist Boriana Slabokova was one of those let go by the company. In a post on LinkedIn, she said, “The past 4 years at Catena were like being on a rollercoaster with broken brakes. From exciting ups and crushing downs”.
Eric Ramsey, the founder of TickerTracker, also confirmed his departure from Catena after nine years. Ramsey wrote, “I felt like I was already freerolling through the last couple years of periodic layoffs, so the only real shock was how it went down in the end.”
He has since started collaborating with Dustin Gouker, also formerly of Catena, in his newsletter The Closing Line.
Catena Launching New Infrastructure Platform
This quarter, CEO Manuel Stan said the company has invested in developing a “technical infrastructure platform that brings together industry players in a single ecosystem.”
He said this new venture should ensure more stability as the company shifts away from a focus on SEO-based affiliate marketing.
“The financial volatility that arises from the unpredictability of a search-dependent business model led Catena Media’s board and management earlier this year to begin exploring how to reshape the business towards a model that reduces exposure to any single external factor,” Stan stated in the company’s interim report.
He added, “We have reorganised our products and squads to drive the project forward and, for competitive reasons, are disclosing few operational details at the present time.”
The company’s share price dropped 30% in the wake of the Q2 results, as investors await more news on the new venture and whether it can stabilize the business.
