July 25, 2025  |  SIGN UP

Jim Cooper
DIGIDAY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A future without traffic. A zero-click reality. Answer machines instead of blue links. As we head into the heart of summer, the attention paid to how AI is eroding the foundation of how digital publishers, and to a lesser extent brand marketers, make money – monetizing against search-derived audiences – is heating up.

While certainty rattled by this industry sea change (this time last year it wasn’t even a talking point) publishers haven’t thrown in the revenue towel just yet. We’ve reported on The New York Times, Hearst and Condé Nast striking AI licensing deals with Amazon – all that hard-won journalism and first-party data is hugely valuable for any AI platform looking for an anecdote to hallucination and an engine for sophistication and scale.

And just this week we reported that Newsweek is leaning into non-SEO revenue streams that involve more events, subscription experiments and more editorial rankings and data-driven co-branded lists. For sure the rise of the machines is upon us. But content, now reimagined, remains king…Read more below ICYMI – Happy Friday!

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ZERO-CLICK FUTURE

To beat the AI squeeze, Newsweek is building revenue beyond traffic

This involves building out its verticals strategy with more events, subscription experiments and more editorial rankings – data-driven co-branded lists produced in partnership with research firms like Statista, that evaluate and spotlight top-performing organizations, institutions and services.

GENERATIVE AI

Jargon buster: The key terms to know on AI bot traffic and monetization

In strategy decks, licensing talks, research reports and closed-door meetings, publishers are navigating a flood of new terms, including “zero-click traffic,” “RAG agents,” and “Model Content Protocol.”  Here’s a jargon buster to help make sense of the emerging vocabulary of AI-media economics, what these terms mean, and why they matter now. 

SPONSORED BY SIMPLI.FI

Why resilient brands take an omnichannel approach to volatility

The most resilient brands are the ones that can respond to volatility through an omnichannel lens with adaptive technologies and full-funnel programmatic partnerships. This guide looks at building flexibility into media planning, enabling marketers to make quick pivots.

THE CREATOR ECONOMY

In creator marketing, loose disclosures are finally catching up

After updating its guidelines, the FTC sent warning letters in late 2023 and early 2024 to trade groups and influencers over misleading sponsored content. Now, in 2025, watchdogs and litigious consumers are picking up where the agency left off. 

SPONSORED BY TEENVOICE

What marketers need to know about how teens are shopping

More than half of Gen Zers (51%) discover products on social platforms, especially TikTok, Instagram and YouTube — which gives brands a lot to think about regarding how they earn attention from these groups. Buying reach through traditional channels isn't enough as teens gravitate to platform-native, socially proofed product discovery.

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THE PROGRAMMATIC MARKETER

With performance channels under scrutiny, these marketers are testing out brand-first strategies

Amid an uncertain economy, some marketers are reconsidering their former dependence on performance strategies. They’re not cutting back on digital, though. Instead, they’re running with an updated playbook layering CTV, creator marketing and audio on top of search and social.

AGENCY CULTURE

As S4 struggles, Sir Martin Sorrell keeps firing shots at the industry he created

In recent months, he dismissed WPP’s consolidation efforts as a “disgrace”, lobbed shade at Omnicom for what he implied would be an overpriced acquisition of IPG and blamed WPP’s current struggles on what he called “weak leadership” under CEO Mark Read. In June, he went further: WPP, he said, might be beyond saving. 

SPONSORED BY DXC TECHNOLOGY

Why marketing’s future will be driven by AI and human intelligence

AI is reshaping the marketing playbook — influencing how businesses anticipate customer needs and embrace experimentation. AI tools have also given marketers the freedom to focus on strategic priorities, not work in silos. But AI can’t create product demand. A human touch is needed to unlock AI’s full potential.