#digital-publishing

#digital-publishing

Publishers' adoption of generative AI is reducing the friction between content and format, making it easier for the same story to appear as shorter summaries, audio, or video, often in real time. To some publishers, a text article may soon be more of a vehicle for original reporting, not a final product. That information could become no longer available strictly in a static piece of content, but transformed into different shapes and formats, based on a reader's signals and preferences.

When Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince first started getting calls from distressed publishers about the threat of AI crawlers scraping their content, his knee-jerk reaction was to roll his eyes. And honestly, a little eye-rolling is fair - Cloudflare's day job is fending off botnets and nation-state cyberattacks, not debating how Google and other AI companies crawl publisher sites. That means any AI-focused crawling the company tracks represents a narrow slice of the overall traffic and data the cloud-edge company processes.

The Drum Awards for Online Media celebrate the original, clever and thought-provoking work of editorial teams and media owners whose skill and commitment keep the public informed. Spriha Srivastava, the UK bureau chief and executive editor of Insider, chaired the jury for our 2023 awards and was joined in the judging room by experts from NBCUniversal, HuffPost, The New York Times Magazine, Channel 4 and many other major media organizations.

Dear Reader, there are no algorithms at 3QD-just six human editors trying to keep a human-curated corner of the internet alive. But recent changes in Google search and other AI-driven shifts have cut our already modest advertising revenue to less than half of what it was just last year. 3QD remains mainly a labor of love, but we do need enough income to cover basic costs.

Affiliate programs are often sold as "partnerships," but for most publishers, they function more like a long-shot gamble. You generate traffic, clicks, and conversions, and then wait to see if the brand's tracking system recognizes your contribution. Spoiler alert: it often doesn't. Ad blockers, private browsing, cookie restrictions, and platform bias all eat away at affiliate tracking. Even when a publisher does everything right - driving legitimate traffic to a partner brand - many clicks go unrecorded or uncredited.

Today's actions are a difficult but necessary step as we continue to evolve our business and prioritize investments that will help us continue to thrive in today's media environment,

For decades, public relations agencies controlled the gatekeeping process between brands and media. Companies relied on bloated retainers, traditional press kits, and personal connections to get coverage. But that model is fading fast. Today, anyone with an internet connection can leverage AI to create compelling press releases, distribute them on platforms like PRWeb, and pitch journalists directly-often faster, cheaper, and with more precision than legacy firms.

In today's marketing environment, the competition for consumer attention is more intense than ever. Traditional paid media channels-television spots, billboards, digital banners, and even paid social ads-are no longer producing the same returns they once did. Audiences have become more sophisticated, more selective, and more resistant to overt advertising. Meanwhile, the rapid growth of digital publishing and AI-driven search has created new opportunities for brand visibility in places consumers actively seek content.

Pinstripe Alley is switching to a new platform, making it faster and more reliable on any device, while maintaining all usual articles and analysis.

In today's digital landscape, creating compelling and polished content is essential for capturing and retaining audience attention. This comprehensive guide offers invaluable insights and strategies for optimizing your content across various platforms.

AI tools can tackle the "boring" stuff while giving you more time to focus on creating great content, enhancing your blog experience without replacing your voice.