Social referral data shows some Facebook growth | New AI scraper research
And we examine a wide range of responses to the UK govt AI consultation, from OpenAI and Google to the BBC
Good morning and welcome to your weekly Future of Media update from Press Gazette on Thursday 17 April.
Anecdotally we’ve been hearing for a couple of months now that Facebook traffic is on the up again (and so is traffic from Threads for the first time, though this is from a much smaller base).
I’ve taken a look at the data using Similarweb estimates. It does appear to show some growth for certain sites, with winners including the Express and multiple US-based political news sites like The Atlantic, Axios, The Hill, Reuters and Newsweek.
The share of total social referral traffic coming from Facebook was up at three-quarters of a sample of the biggest news websites both globally and in the US alone. Sites that also saw their total social traffic up were deemed to be seeing actual growth from Facebook.
Also today, two AI updates. Bron Maher has examined the responses we can see so far to the Government’s AI copyright consultation. I found the differences between the OpenAI and Google approaches particularly fascinating.
And Paul Hood has shared some new findings from Miso.AI research into AI bots scraping even when they are disallowed by robots.txt, and shared some new thoughts on tech solutions to deal with this problem.
On Press Gazette:
Facebook increasing as part of social traffic mix after algorithm change, data shows
More than a third of major global news websites saw both Facebook share and total social referral traffic growth in March.
‘Unsustainable status quo’: AI companies and publishers respond to Govt copyright consultation
The Government’s opt-out proposal is like burglars being allowed unless they are banned by a sign on the front door, one response says.
AI scraper violations and what we can do about them: New research reveals scale of problem
Paul Hood reveals data from new Miso.AI research into AI scrapers and suggests some tech solutions.
Also in Press Gazette this week:
Publishers delete and amend stories based on dubious experts
G/O Media CEO says future for Quartz ‘extremely bright’ despite newsroom being laid off
UK ‘at risk of evolving into propaganda regime’ with unenforced FOI rules and official secrecy
Reach digital pioneer Belfast Live marks 10 years: ‘We’re positive and proudly non-partisan’
Dotdash Meredith makes major investment in ‘Tiktok-like’ People app
Cision closes journalism jobs board and sells expert enquiry service
Global ad spend against news down by a third since pre-Covid
Digital publisher display revenues stabilise for first time in two years
French policy title Contexte takes on Politico with English-language launch
Latest podcast: Jim Mullen's legacy at Reach | Value of news to Google | Sun losses, Times profits
Press Gazette's editorial team share their insights into big stories from the world of news. Charlotte Tobitt talks us through the latest News UK accounts, which show losses at The Sun shrank in the year to June 2024 while The Times reported a £60m profit.
We react to news that Jim Mullen, the divisive CEO at Reach, is stepping down. And Bron Maher looks at the arguments and counterarguments being made by publishers and Google over what news is really worth on its platforms.
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