Google AI Overviews 'not the death of search' | Evening Standard to go weekly
And Immediate Media's chief executive explains why he believes, in the AI age, that the publishers with fewer, larger brands will fare best
Good morning, and welcome to your Future of Media newsletter on Thursday, 30 May, brought to you in association with the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
This week I’ve been at the WAN-IFRA World News Media Congress in Copenhagen. Unsurprisingly, a major theme has been AI – but with an interesting mix of different perspectives and taking in everything from copyright to search.
My first piece from the event was Financial Times chief executive John Ridding, who has just signed a deal with OpenAI, putting forward the case for why news publishers have leverage in these discussions – and why AI companies will know it’s in their interests too.
But Ridding was followed immediately afterwards by a talk that featured New York Times chief product officer Alex Hardiman – whose employer is, of course, suing OpenAI after their own discussions broke down. Hardiman obviously could not comment on that lawsuit directly but did say they "believe that there are ways to build a technology that respects copyright law and provides fair value exchange, and that is what will actually help fuel the next round of innovation".
Keep an eye on Press Gazette for highlights from OpenAI’s Tom Rubin, its chief of intellectual property and content, as well as other stories from the conference to come.
Another AI-related highlight of the conference for me was SEO for news expert Barry Adams who has done some initial analysis on the impact of Google’s AI Overviews rollout on search traffic referrals to news publishers.
Reassuringly he believes it will be okay – and not the death of search – for news-focused publishers, although those with a high reliance on evergreen content will be hit much harder.
Google’s vice president for global news partnerships Jaffer Zaidi also spoke at the conference but did not directly address the AI Overviews launch and was one of the few speakers not to take audience questions (neither did OpenAI’s Rubin).
Meanwhile, among UK publishers at the conference the discussion slightly shifted on Wednesday afternoon from AI to the demise of the daily print edition of the Evening Standard.
What’s next? We still don’t know exactly. Staff have been told the proposal is for a weekly print edition but not when that change will happen or what day of the week it will be put out. Staff were also told the goal is to “replicate” the success of The Independent – which of course went digital-only in 2016 – in recent years.
And last, but by no means least, I interviewed Immediate Media chief executive Sean Cornwell to mark his first year in the job – with lots to talk about including a major subscriptions milestone, an ad business that’s thriving not just surviving, and of course AI.
New from Press Gazette
Early signs show Google AI Overviews won’t mean ‘dramatic downward dive’ for news traffic
Early anecdotal data shows that if AI Overviews are on a page and your page is not cited as a source, you lose about 2.8% of traffic, says SEO expert Barry Adams.
Immediate Media CEO: Talent and brands will win out in world of infinite content
The focus of Immediate’s strategy, chief executive Sean Cornwell told Press Gazette, is around “three mega verticals, so food and nutrition, entertainment, and knowledge. And we’re very much very deliberately focused around having a smaller number of large category brands”.
Evening Standard set to go from daily to weekly print edition
“Shorter commuting weeks, widespread Wi-Fi along our commuting routes and the desire for our readers to consume ever-richer content across a variety of platforms and devices, all make evolution a prerequisite of viability.”
Previously on Press Gazette
FT CEO: News orgs ‘have leverage and should insist on payment’ from AI companies
Who’s suing AI and who’s signing: Vox Media and The Atlantic latest to announce OpenAI deals
Media manifestos 2024: Publishers urge action to control generative AI
General election 2024 press endorsements: Mirror and Telegraph first to reveal party support
Election 2024: How broadcasters are covering UK general election
Data Bill threatening to centralise cookie consent dropped ahead of election
Media Bill passed protecting public service broadcasters and repealing Section 40
Digital Markets Bill passed paving way for publisher ‘level playing field’ with big tech
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Podcast 71: Daily Mail CEO Rich Caccappolo on keeping journalism free
This episode includes excerpts from an interview between Press Gazette editor-in-chief Dominic Ponsford and Rich Caccappolo, CEO of Daily Mail publisher DMG Media. It also features media consultant Matthew Scott Goldstein. They talk about how to save journalism (and democracy) on the open web by adapting to Google’s plan to switch off cookies on Chrome.
Caccappolo also provides an update on DMG Media’s legal action against Google and reveals how his company is growing overall revenue in a tough market.
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