The Weekly Bulletin | December 09, 2025

Catch up on your members' content, check out the community buzz, and browse through job opportunities

Author

Vahe Arabian
December 09, 2025

In partnership with

Hi SODP community,

As we close out the year, the publishing industry continues its rapid evolution. Let's dive into the latest developments shaping digital publishing.

.TIP OF THE WEEK.

How to turn data into growth for publishers

Analytics aren't just numbers; they're your roadmap to publishing growth.

Data isn't power, it's potential. For publishers, the real value lies in transforming raw metrics into repeatable growth strategies that drive audience retention, revenue, and SEO performance. Too often, publishers collect vast amounts of data but fail to extract meaningful takeaways. The key is understanding what content resonates, how audiences engage, and where opportunities for growth exist.

Collecting data is easy; extracting insights is not. Without clarity, metrics like pageviews and bounce rates become distractions. For example, a 40% drop in returning visitors isn't just a traffic issue—it's a retention red flag. By using the right tools and refining strategies based on real data, you can turn numbers into growth.

Here are actionable strategies to turn data into action:

  • Know Your Audience Beyond Pageviews

    Pageviews alone don't tell the full story. Instead, track return visitors, time on page, and scroll depth to measure true engagement. Tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Parse.ly provide deeper insights. Cohort analysis can reveal trends, millennials may prefer video, while Gen X engages more with newsletters. For example, if mobile traffic spikes by 20% after 8 PM, push breaking news via mobile notifications to capture that audience in real-time.

  • Optimise Content Performance with Behavioural Data

    Understanding why some content performs well helps you replicate success. Use Google Search Console and Semrush to analyse search visibility and Hotjar to track user interactions. For example, if "AI in media" gets 3x more shares than "content trends," double down on AI-related content. Additionally, A/B test headlines (e.g., "5 Growth Hacks" vs. "Proven Tactics") to see what improves click-through rates.

  • Track Conversions, Not Just Traffic

    Traffic alone doesn't guarantee success—conversions do. Set up goals in GA4 to measure newsletter sign-ups, paid subscriptions, or product purchases. Identify which referral sources drive the highest conversion rates, and adjust your strategy accordingly. For example, premium subscribers from "how-to guides" tend to have a 15% higher lifetime value than general news readers, meaning content type matters when driving long-term revenue. To scale what works, automate reporting with Power BI or Looker Studio to save 10+ hours per month.

Analytics only matter when they drive actions. The biggest mistake any publishers can make is to treat data as a report card instead of a playbook. Start by auditing one content category this week, setting up a conversion goal in GA4, and A/B testing a headline. Data doesn't lie, but it won't work unless you do something.

Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays

Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.

Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.

.NEWS OF THE WEEK.

➡️WAN-IFRA and FIPP merge to create world's largest publisher alliance uniting 20,000 media brands across 120 countries. Effective January 1, 2026, the consolidation addresses shared challenges as traditional distinctions between news and magazine media blur. Magazine industry's commercial revenue diversification expertise benefits news publishers, while news media's digital subscription strategies provide models for magazines. FIPP retains unique identity with its Congress under CEO Alastair Lewis, establishing "Consumer Lifestyle and Special Interest Media" community within WAN-IFRA. Strategic imperative: unified industry front more critical than ever against global tech platforms and AI's rapid rise.

➡️ Three AI use cases demonstrate reader connection strategies: accessible economics chatbot, personalized newsletters, and membership optimization. Colombia's Economía para la Pipol created AI chatbot delivering economic insights in accessible language with 900+ queries, now exploring partnerships as revenue stream. Greece's Makedonia built AI-powered personalized newsletter system with editorial safeguard preventing filter bubbles. South Africa's Daily Maverick optimized membership landing page achieving 55% conversion increase, plus built social networking platform with AI comment moderation. Key lesson: interdisciplinary teams essential—breaking down silos ensures user-friendly design.

➡️ Local news networks expand as TAPinto, Texas Tribune, and Salt Lake Tribune test new models for underserved communities. Medill's 2025 report shows 853 local news sites across 52 networks, fastest-growing category. TAPinto operates 99 franchised sites with low barrier to entry—each commits to one original story daily. Texas Tribune launched newsrooms in five locations focusing on community trust. Salt Lake Tribune expanded into southern Utah with monthly print newspaper. Key success factors: hyperlocal focus, reporters rooted in communities (not parachuting in), listening with humility, understanding expansion requires more work than expected.

➡️ Commerce media overtakes TV globally for first time as digital climbs to 84% of ad market. WPP Media forecasts commerce media reaching $178.2B in 2025 versus TV's $171.1B, becoming "very attractive" to brands for performance-driven measurability. Streaming's share of TV revenue rises from 26.2% to 29.5%. Traditional search maintains resilience with $244.9B spend (10.2% YoY growth) despite AI emergence—Perplexity's ad revenue remains "insignificant" until OpenAI introduces ChatGPT ads. Search evolving from reactive (typed queries) to proactive (automatically suggested content), increasingly personalized and pervasive.

➡️ LLM payment models emerge as publishers split between licensing deals, litigation, and bot restrictions amid traffic declines. AI Overviews cause 46.7% click drop, zero-click searches rose 56% to 69%, organic traffic fell 2.3B to 1.7B visits. Three models emerging: usage-based revenue sharing (Perplexity's Comet Plus, ProRata 50/50 split), flat-rate licensing (OpenAI deals: News Corp hundreds of millions, Dotdash Meredith $16M, plus Financial Times, Vox, AP), legal settlements (Anthropic $1.5B). Publishers dividing: some accepting deals (Condé Nast, Dotdash Meredith), others litigating (NYT v OpenAI/Microsoft, Forbes declining Perplexity). Creating "Licensed Web" (premium content with compensation) versus "Open Web" (crawlable without deals). News/Media Alliance calls practices "parasitic, existential threat." Current models don't match what publishers earned from search or what AI companies extract.

.SODP POSTS.

Down-ranking Polarizing Content Lowers Emotional Temperature on Social Media

Reducing visibility of polarizing content in social media feeds measurably lowers partisan animosity, according to new Johns Hopkins University research. Researchers developed an open-source web tool to rerank X feeds of consenting participants in real time, previously only platforms could do this. Using large language models, they identified posts likely to polarize users, such as those advocating political violence or demanding imprisonment of opposing party members. Posts weren't removed, simply ranked lower. The 10-day pre-election experiment showed reducing exposure measurably improved participants' feelings toward opposing party members and reduced negative emotions while scrolling. Effects were similar across political affiliations. Key insight: feed algorithms significantly impact attitudes and perceptions, yet common misconception suggests only two extremes exist: engagement-based algorithms or chronological feeds. Reality offers wide spectrum of intermediate approaches. Recent Meta collaboration found switching to chronological feeds insufficient to impact polarization. Platforms including Bluesky and X are moving toward giving users more control over feed principles. The study represents first step toward designing algorithms aware of potential social impact.

.JOB BOARD.

➡️ Business Insider is seeking personal essay pitches on multigenerational living, relationships with grandparents, downsizing, retirement, empty nesting, relocation stories, longevity tips, sibling relationships, wealth and loneliness, and parenting topics. Rates start at $225 for 600 words. Email [email protected] with subject line format: [Pitch: Your proposed headline]. (Remote, Freelance).

➡️ The Cut (US) needs a remote nights and weekends blogger to cover culture, relationships, and lifestyle topics with sharp, engaging voice ($36/hour). (Remote, Part-time).

➡️ The Atlantic needs an editorial fellow to support editorial operations and contribute to one of the most respected publications in American journalism ($60,000/year). (Full-time, Fellowship).

.SOCIAL MEDIA.

➡️ Matthew Scott Goldstein on LinkedIn:

"You heard it here first: Don't be surprised if OpenAI's large-scale publisher crawling quietly comes back online."

Goldstein, an independent analyst and advisor, argues this won't be defiance but survival. Competitive gravity remains undefeated in the high-stakes AI arms race with Google. You cannot build world-class, state-of-the-art AI on synthetic data and licensing goodwill alone. Real models require real content at real scale with real freshness.

Google's competitive edge is structural. Its massive search bot inherently crawls and indexes everything. The training data pipeline constantly refreshes through its core business. Rivals face immense pressure to access equivalent, high-quality, up-to-date data.

If OpenAI resumes ingesting publisher content, it becomes strategic necessity. But "legal" crawling without paying for extracted value isn't a long-term strategy—it's delay disguised as compliance.

The core argument: Publishers are not a data source. They are the critical supply chain. And supply chains eventually send invoices.

For publishers, this framing shifts the conversation from "can we block crawlers?" to "how do we structure the economic relationship?" If Goldstein's prediction proves correct, the question becomes negotiating leverage rather than access control. Publishers controlling premium, frequently updated content—investigative journalism, expert analysis, breaking news—hold stronger positions than those producing commodity content AI can synthesize elsewhere.

The timing matters. As AI companies race toward real-time knowledge and current events integration, publisher content becomes infrastructure, not just training data. That infrastructure position creates pricing power, but only if publishers act collectively rather than individually.

These are the highlights for the last week.

Until next!

Vahe Arabian and the editorial team at SODP