The Weekly Bulletin | February 18, 2025

Hi SODP community,

Let’s recap on what’s been happening, the new content, industry updates, tips, and more.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Relying solely on traditional ad revenue simply isn’t enough anymore—sustainable growth depends on diversifying income streams.

Ad revenues are under pressure, with CPMs declining 18% year-on-year (Reuters Institute, 2024) and stricter privacy regulations limiting traditional advertising’s effectiveness. A case study from The Guardian demonstrates that a strategic shift to hybrid revenue models can significantly boost performance.

The Guardian transformed its approach by introducing tiered memberships that offer premium analysis and live editor Q&A sessions. This strategy not only tripled revenue in 12 months but also achieved a 32% membership uptake. Similarly, Forbes tapped into NFTs, providing over 10,000 subscribers with exclusive event access and early article previews—clear evidence that audiences are ready to pay for exclusivity. Even more telling, The New York Times now derives 64% of its revenue from subscriptions, while publishers like The Information have further strengthened their community ties by launching subscriber-only apps that reduce third-party dependencies.

These initiatives reflect a broader shift in audience expectations. Consumers are increasingly drawn to high-quality, exclusive content and personalised experiences rather than generic, ad-supported material. Moving beyond an ad-only strategy isn’t just about following trends—it’s a practical move to secure your business for the future by building deeper relationships and ensuring long-term financial stability.

Here are the key insights:

1. Diversify Revenue Streams: Embrace innovative approaches such as tiered memberships and NFTs to reduce reliance on declining ad revenues.

2. Enhance Audience Engagement: Offer exclusive, value-driven content that fosters deeper connections and builds community trust.

3. Future-Proof Your Business: Transitioning to hybrid revenue models is essential for long-term sustainability and resilience in digital publishing.

The shift towards diversified revenue models not only strengthens financial performance but also cultivates a more engaged and loyal audience.

SODP POSTS

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Publisher Used First-Party Data To Cash-In On 4th Quarter

As the publishing industry undergoes a fundamental shift away from third-party data reliance, publishers are discovering the power of first-party data to reshape their business models. This article marks the final installment in our series exploring this transformation, highlighting how publishers are leveraging first-party data to regain control over audience engagement and monetization.

💡 What you will learn:

• Owning the audience

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READ MORE

Generative AI, Online Platforms And Compensation For Content: The Need For A New Framework

The emergence of generative artificial intelligence has put the issue of compensation for content producers back on the table.

Generative AI offers undeniable benefits but raises familiar fears tied to disruptive technologies. In the cultural and creative sectors, concerns are mounting over the potential replacement of human creators, the erosion of artistic authenticity and risks of copyright infringement. Legal battles are already emerging worldwide, with intellectual property owners and AI developers clashing over rights. Alongside these legal and ethical concerns lies the economic question: how should revenues generated by AI be fairly distributed?

READ MORE

JOB BOARD

➡️ The Australian Financial Review is looking for a newsletter editor who will oversee the delivery of its editorial newsletters, ensuring their quality, accuracy, and timely distribution. (North Sydney, Australia). SEE MORE

➡️CoinDesk  is seeking an audience development specialist who will be responsible for managing and expanding its newsletter portfolio, driving subscriber growth, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, engaging content to its audience. (NY). SEE MORE

COMMUNITY BUZZ

Industry News

➡️ The New York Times is greenlighting the use of AI for its product and editorial staff, saying that internal tools could eventually write social copy, SEO headlines, and some code. In an email to newsroom staff, the company announced that it’s opening up AI training to the newsroom, and debuting a new internal AI tool called Echo to staff, Semafor has learned. READ MORE

➡️ Four major artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots are inaccurately summarising news stories, according to research carried out by the BBC. The BBC gave OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot, Google's Gemini and Perplexity AI content from the BBC website then asked them questions about the news. READ MORE 

Social Media Discussions

➡️ Lily Ray on LinkedIn:

The most absurd thing about SEO in 2025 (and there are a lot of them) is the fact that we can't break out AI Overview reporting in Google Search Console. Also, that Google apparently has no plans to add this feature.

In the meantime, Google is now testing Gemini 2.0 with 'Deep Research' to power its AI Overviews. Those of us who have seen this test in the wild (I first encountered it yesterday) can attest to the fact that this thing literally takes up the entire first page of results, more than any other SERP feature before. It's basically like getting a full-page answer to your question, which pushes other organic results far below the fold.

CONTINUE READING

These are the highlights for the last week.

Until next!

Vahe Arabian and the editorial team at SODP