"I've only been on the bad end of a conspiracy one time, but that's one too many for a lifetime. What I learned from this experience is that there's a brief moment of relief that comes from knowing you're not crazy, followed by the paralyzing realization that all your darkest fears are coming true. That's a little bit what it's like to be a publisher of a website in 2025."
"No mega platform owes us anything. I want to acknowledge this. Google (or Alphabet, if you prefer) doesn't have to send us any traffic or any advertisers, and it still does a lot of both. My understanding was always that we work hard to provide the content that makes Google's many products valuable, and the company, in return, provides some reasonably proportional level of traffic. This was also the deal with Facebook before Facebook decided to pull the rug out on publishers."
An experience of being targeted by a conspiracy produced a brief relief at not being mistaken, followed by a paralyzing realization that fears were coming true. The automotive news industry is split between attempts to pivot to membership models and widespread layoffs. Publishers have tried to offer freelance work to displaced journalists but face the same economic squeezes that limit capacity to help. Mega platforms are not obligated to send traffic or advertisers despite relying on publisher content. Under laws like the DMCA, platforms receive safe harbor while publishers assume legal risk. Google is integrating AI across products such as Gemini, Sheets, Meets, and generative maps.
Read at The Autopian
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