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Publishing Strategies is my Substack newsletter about digital audience growth and journalism.
It's where I publish original research on how AI and search treat news publishers, notes from industry conferences, and the occasional opinion that doesn't belong on a consultancy site.
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Should Publishers Block Google’s AI From Using Their Content?: Publisher Growth Briefing #5
Is Google preparing a major update? Should publishers block its AI? And does prompt tracking really work?
When your electrician gets leads from AI Search: Publisher Growth Briefing #4
It’s been a busy week for AI and for you, mere mortal. Let’s work out who actually won.
Rave hallucinations and optimising for the next question: Publisher Growth Briefing #3
Why should you give a damn about entities? Why are newsrooms trapped in short-term loops? Where can I find decent strategy for managing bots? Read on and delight!
Your AI reputation is being built off-site
My latest research shows that when AI assesses a news publisher’s trust, identity and value, most of the evidence comes from other websites.
From reach to relationships: how publishers are rethinking audience growth
At the Future of Media Technology conference, D2C emerged as the big theme: building recognised users, stronger habits and direct audience relationships.
Which publisher pages does AI cite when judging a news brand?
AI does not appear to judge a publisher from one definitive page. It assembles different evidence depending on the question. Evidence from 4,003 AI answers and 20,016 citations
The Three Laws of Audience Growth
Zero-click is forcing publishers to confront a bigger question than search traffic: why should audiences choose them at all? Here are three simple principles.
Competitor research starts with your own product
Effective competitor research reveals whether your positioning is clear, your audience experience works, and your content communicates its value to readers clearly.
“Stop renting your audience from other platforms”: What publishers can learn from Good Housekeeping, The Guardian and The Times
At Media Voices’ first publishing summit, publishers were urged to build deeper reader relationships, focus on fewer things, and make trust count.
Young Audiences Haven’t Abandoned News. They’ve Abandoned the Old Ways of Finding It.
The latest Reuters Digital News Report looks grim. But young audiences aren’t apathetic — their news habits have simply moved elsewhere.