Shifts Shaping Media’s Future: AI Search, Elastic Content, and Strategic Pivots

How is Google’s AI Mode Changing the Game for Publishers?

Digiday, The Winners and Losers of Google’s AI Mode

Google’s AI Mode and AI Overviews threaten publishers’ traffic by reducing click-through rates. AI Overviews have already caused significant declines, with the Daily Mail reporting a 44% drop in click-through rates.

Publishers with diversified strategies and retail media networks may mitigate losses. Publishers like Dotdash Meredith, focusing on subscriptions and direct reader relationships, are less reliant on Google traffic. Retail media networks could benefit from AI Mode’s shopping query strengths, though they face similar click-through risks.

What a Liquid News Media Future Looks Like

AI Will Not Replace You, Markus Franz: The future of media is liquid, personal. And yes, you can talk to it.

Markus Franz, CTO of Ippen Digital, envisions a future where media is liquid, personalized, and voice-driven. Voice interfaces, seen as the most natural way to interact, are replacing keyword searches, with AI enabling translation and access, especially for younger audiences accustomed to talking to devices like Siri.

Content is shifting from static articles to “elastic” formats, allowing users to customize their experience to boost engagement, particularly among youth. Personalization goes beyond recommendations, transforming stories into user-preferred styles and formats, with engagement prioritized over content itself to enhance interaction through innovative CMS and delivery methods like voice and summaries.

This is How UK Publishers are Adapting to AI

Journalism.co.uk, How Britain’s most established news brands are reinventing themselves for the digital age

The Times & Sunday Times drives digital engagement via its app, with AI-narrated articles boosting consumption fivefold and visual storytelling tools like Shorthand, prioritizing quality to counter subscription fatigue.

Sky News’ 2030 strategy shifts to a video-first, community-driven model, leveraging talent for podcasts and live events, moving beyond traditional ads.

Reuters’ new $1/£1/€1 weekly paywall has gained 100,000+ subscribers since October 2024, balancing global consumer focus with AI-enhanced B2B services like multilingual video narration.

How Search has Changed in the Past Year

Digiday, One Year in SEO Lessons from Publishers After Google’s AI Overviews

Google’s AI Overviews, launched a year ago, has prompted publishers to adapt to a shifting search landscape. Publishers are rethinking SEO strategies, moving away from long-tail keywords that trigger AI Overviews, which reduce click-through rates, and focusing on branded searches that maintain visibility and leverage loyalty.

Some are prioritizing exclusives and breaking news to capture urgency, while others, like Dotdash Meredith, build direct audience ties through subscriptions and newsletters to lessen reliance on Google traffic, as AI summaries particularly impact smaller sites with informational content like recipes.

Adapt to AI, Fast

Journalis.co.uk, Naja Nielsen, media director of SVT: ‘We don’t have decades to get used to AI’

Naja Nielsen warns newsrooms must rapidly adapt to AI-driven disruption as user behavior shifts quickly. At Newsrewired, the incoming SVT media director emphasized that, unlike past digital transitions, news organizations lack decades to adjust to AI, with users already relying on it for news and daily tasks.

Nordic publishers like Aftonbladet lead with AI chatbots, showing how generative AI reshapes workflows and business models. Nielsen urges embracing AI experimentation, like La Nacion’s AI analysis of political speeches, while staying true to core values and forming new partnerships to meet audience needs, helping them understand the world and navigate misinformation.