Content Aware media news: January 11, 2024

The internet eats itself, Spanish publishers bite the cookie, and your Blueprint to success.

Published: 12:29, 12 January 2024

The internet is eating itself, and there's something we can do
The internet is eating itself, in real time. This isn't a necessarily a new revelation, particularly as our content king Rob Corbidge highlights this week (alongside a great article from Verge) the inevitable destination of internet uniformity at the altar of Google. See below for that.

By coincidence, what struck us anew in this theme this week was a LinkedIn invitation to our esteemed CEO, inviting him to contribute to the knowledge pool of content management by answering some questions around the topic. In itself this is not so unusual, however this one just seemed a little different. It seemed... computer generated. Because it was.

The questions were explicitly revealed to be AI-generated, and we are quite certain were being asked for the purpose of trying to train the AI on a complex issue (which content management is). It didn’t say which AI, but since Microsoft owns LinkedIn it's not a wild punt to assume it's ChatGPT. The inducement to answer was the opportunity to become a "top voice" on the subject on LinkedIn.

Unfortunately, many who did answer looked on the face of it to be not at all experts in the field of complex content management, and proffered 'expert answers' that certainly read like they were obtained from, err... ChatGPT. Hey, to cap it all off, maybe all the participants were bots too.

We're not arrogant enough to assume we are the only people asked such questions, or that the process isn't probably being mirrored across countless other topics across LinkedIn. After all, if you wanted to canvas sector experts to train an AI, LinkedIn is the one you'd pick.

So, basically, it was AIs, asking AIs, for the benefit of other AIs, with good old people doing some copying and pasting in the middle before we’re all outdated.

In this world of pseudo-experts, publishers actually sit on real expertise, which is why the main chatbot AIs are desperate to do deals for content. Forget the banditry buy-off for using your old content unlawfully (separate issue) - the real play is to have a steady supply of actual new content on tap which has been fact-checked before publication to make their AI better than the other team's AI.

Trouble is, the money they are offering is trivial in relation to real-world value over time.

The solution for publishers is to hold your nerve. Refuse the pittance being offered by the new warlords of AI to use your original thought and expertise, which they so nicely term "training data". After all, they have somewhat let the cat out of the bag by stating it’s impossible to make their AIs without using your copyrighted data.

Anyway, on with the edition.

Glide Blueprint launches
Glide is pleased to announce a new offering which takes more hassle off the hands of publishers and content businesses is now available for access - Glide Blueprint. A "Glide to Go" which tackles things like website build and launch, alongside the full platform capability always on offer, lets you get on with the content and focus on your strategies for success. Read about it here.
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Spanish publishers react fast to cookieless: give us your money!
Publishers in Spain have found a rapid solution to the rise of cookieless and other regs in the country regarding consent and data: offer quickpay solutions right alongside the cookie old consent form. Turns out it might be an unexpected boost to revenue. Watch this space. Vamos!
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How generative search kills the organic goose
How is Google's generative search hurting or reshaping traditional organic search results? Even though it is quite new, after testing of thousands of terms, the answer seems to be a lot.
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Corbidge comments on... what Google wants is what everyone gets
While on the ever-perplexing subject of what Google looks for in content, you don't have to be a cynic to see that the endgame for everyone doing what Google asks for is that we all end up doing the same thing. Our unreplicable Head of Content Intelligence Rob starts looking for the differences and surmises we are about to come full circle.
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On the Verge of identicality
A great piece that lays out the path well travelled by so many site owners and online businesses. Using the Google map, we all end up at the same destination. And that helps Google, not us.
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Verify your content before the AI does
Fox Corp rolls out a new blockchain tool to help lodge your ownership rights over content you produce, a useful lever it says in striking deals with AI firms gobbling up the online world's output. (Love the name! - Ed)
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How generative search strangles the organic goose
If you have experienced a hit to your traffic recently, read on. How is Google's generative search hurting or reshaping traditional organic search results? Even though it is quite new, after testing of thousands of terms, the answer seems to be a lot.
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Reuters Institute predictions for 2024
Generative search and its impact on publishers forms a major part of the annual Reuters Institute look at the year ahead, canvasing thoughts from editorial and publishing leaders around the world.
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There's a reason we train journalists
You may think that, in an effort to reinforce the facts, inviting readers to do their own research on a subject would lead them to get closer to the truth. Turns out to the surprise of probably everyone, it does the opposite. Solution: lead them directly to the best sources.
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Love thy experts
With major elections throughout 2024, newspapers and journalists are prepping for a fight against a "tsunami of misinformation". Never will having the right experts on hand be more important.
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Less is more (unless it's cookieless)
Back to cookieless, and the new Google Privacy Sandbox changes which are already starting to show some unexpected impact on advertising performance. Research suggests you brace yourself for glitches and a possible loss of pricing power.
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