Postbank’s Digital Study 2026 shows that people in Germany are spending less time online than last year — around 67 hours per week, roughly five hours less than in 2025.
That may sound like a small shift.
But for marketers, it raises a much bigger question:
What happens when consumers start actively managing their digital exposure?
Because this is not about people disconnecting from the world. It is about people becoming more selective with their attention.
They are still online.
They still search, compare, shop, bank, stream and communicate.
But they may be less willing to tolerate digital clutter, irrelevant messages and constant interruption.
From an ELMA perspective, this is an important reminder that effective media planning cannot be built on reach alone.
Reach tells us where a message could appear.
Attention tells us whether it has a chance to matter.
As online time becomes more intentional, advertisers need to think harder about the role each channel plays in the customer journey.
Which channels build trust?
Which create attention?
Which support planning?
Which trigger action?
Which stay in the home, in the hand, or in the mind?
The strongest media strategies will not be the ones that simply follow consumers online.
They will be the ones that meet people in the moments when they are most open, most receptive and most ready to act.
Because in a world of digital fatigue, balance is not old-fashioned.
It is strategic.