Can ad-funded news survive as the great cookie switch-off begins today?
We look at the challenges facing ad-funded online news and at potential solutions and chart the damage already wrought by collapsing ad revenue
This year Press Gazette will be leading the fight to help publishers claw back the billions lost to tech platforms in online advertising.
The issue has become a pressing one because today, Google begins the process of turning off publisher cookies on its dominant Chrome web browser.
This means that the proportion of publisher website readers who are identifiable will shrink ever smaller and along with it the ability to monetise journalism on the open web.
It all comes down to addressability. If you know something about the people reading your website, you can make a few quid out of them by addressing your advertising (and so personalising it) more directly to them. If they are invisible to you, because cookies have been turned off, then your content becomes almost worthless to advertisers.
This addressability challenge is one of the big reasons why publisher ad revenue plunged last year, even as the overall online advertising market grew.
According to new analysis by Press Gazette at least 8,000 jobs were lost in news media in 2023.
The UK’s biggest free-to-air online news publisher, Reach, made total announced job cuts of 727 as it grappled with falling traffic and ad revenue.
If this trend is to be reversed then finding new ways to support popular online journalism with advertising must be found.
If you are just returning to us from your Christmas break, check out our insights from 18 news media leaders in the UK and US explaining how they plan to tackle the big challenges of 2024 (with online advertising, AI and falling referral traffic all featuring high on the list).
Generative AI sadly poses an existential threat to news media by stealing and repackaging our content, but it does also offer some opportunities within in newsroom. We have a handy round-up here of practical ways journalists can use generative AI tools.
New from Press Gazette
Why ad-funded journalism-for-all faces fight for survival in 2024
“I look at it as Godzilla versus Mothra and we are the citizens of Tokyo. There’s no doubt these buildings are going to fall on us.”
More than 8,000 journalism job cuts in UK and North America in 2023
As our estimate is only based on announced cutbacks at larger companies the true figure will be much higher. Job cuts at smaller companies rarely make the news but have been just as widespread last year.
Generative AI in the newsroom: Tips and tactics for 2024 from Reuters, Newsquest and BBC
“Remember that [while] experimenting is really fun, publishing is very serious. So make sure that you have safeguards in place.”
How can news media bounce back in 2024? 18 leaders share their insights
“AI is without doubt an industry disrupter, but it is also a great opportunity and by using it to improve newsroom workflows, we can free up our journalists up to produce more high-quality, trusted content. In a world of mass AI-produced, low-value content, quality journalism will be at even more of a premium than it has ever been.”
Our latest podcast
Podcast 62: How publishers can sell online advertising in an awful market
Guardian US senior vice president for advertising Luis Romero talks to Press Gazette about what it is like to sell in the toughest ad market since 2008.
He also shares some tactics and strategies the Guardian is deploying to persuade more brands to spend money on reaching its 45 million US readers per month.
His pitch is a simple one: stop supporting the dark corners of the internet on tech platforms and instead help fund a news business which is shining light on the world's most important issues.
Must-reads this week from Press Gazette you might have missed
Editors reject extra protection in Code for Jews, Muslims and those with ADHD
New publisher video player bridges gap between social platforms and open web
GB News celebrates one million viewer breakthrough on first moments of 2024
Why New York Times lawsuit seeks destruction of OpenAI and Microsoft LLMs
John Ryley, Gillian Tett and Jeff Powell among media figures in King’s New Year Honours
Top 50 UK news websites: Money Saving Expert re-enters top ten as The Telegraph falls to eleventh