Quality journalism gets better aim, Wiki cashes in the paycheck, and AI efficiency goes MIA

Google's ad tech under fire, AI hype vs reality, Meta betting on inaction, and taking back snippet control - all in this week's Content Aware.

Published: 15:14, 22 January 2026

Corbidge comments on...AI's do or die
The AI hype machine is slowly starting to wobble, as real-world data is showing that while it can boost productivity, AI is nowhere near the world-changing numbers we were promised. It seems that stuffing AI into basically everything hasn't really delivered the magic we were sold at the beginning, and it definitely doesn't excuse building systems that mooch on and steal content, afterwards pretending that the output is somehow disconnected from the content made by hard-working and creative humans. Our resident content catapult Rob discusses what comes after the AI hype phase is done, will these system create real value, or will they perish.
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AI's theft buffet
Who says piracy doesn't pay? Library "catalog" Anna's Archive is reportedly rolling out the red carpet to AI developers for access to its 60+ million pirated books archive, for $200,000 in crypto. This is another notch in AI's "train first, ask questions later" belt, shinning a light on the fact that AI giants like Nvidia seem to play by the stolen-content-fuels-the-race-to-the-top rules, while creators watch their work disappear into an algorithm where content theft is still considered a business model.
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Wikipedia's AI deals
After years of AI bots gobbling on free content and driving server costs through the roof, Wikipedia has done deals with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and other AI giants, to give them a way into their human-curated content, with a price tag. Wikimedia Foundation announced the deals, which will include Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikivoyage, and others, in exchange for a paycheck and some breathing room for umbrella org Wikimedia Foundation.
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More media suing Google
Five of America's biggest publishers, Penske Media, Vox, The Atlantic, McClatchy and Advance Publications, have filed lawsuits against Google for ad market manipulation and deception, claiming the ads and search firm pulled tech strings to undercut rivals and squeeze out publisher revenues. The premise for the suits lay within the court decision last year that Google runs an ad market monopoly, with the text of The Atlantic's suit deep-diving into alleged secret auctions leveraging insight into bid prices placed on Google platforms.
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Navigating expertise
Who gets to speak on complex matters? For journalists, this isn't some abstract theory, but a daily reality of balancing facts versus opinion, and expertise versus commentary. Every story demands decisions about whose knowledge counts, who is the expert, and how to present information responsibly. Too much deference and you might seem biased, too little and you risk spreading misinformation. Expertise is essential, but in an era of AI "experts" who may not even be real, and experts with agendas, educators are having to re-establish the best ways for journalists to navigate expertise. Download the full paper about journalists in a world of experts by Jon Kåre Time here [PDF].
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Error 404: productivity not found
Analyst firm Forrester's top thinker J.P. Gownder is aiming a pin at the AI hype balloon. The firm suggests that some 6% of US roles could be replaced by AI by 2030, but despite apparent adoption trends Principal Analyst Gownder says productivity and ROI improvements aren't there and, he says, many jobs already "taken" by AI were in fact simple lay-offs masquerading as AI adoption to make cuts and belt-tightening look less apparent.
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Smarter discovery = greater loyalty
Norwegian media group Amedia rolled out a personalisation initiative to get more content seen and prevent nearly half its output lying in relative obscurity. They deduced it wasn't about quality, but distribution, and decided on simple, rule-based tweaks which led to more readers showing up daily and stronger engagement habits. INMA shares more info on how their stories landed exactly where they belong, and less of their content was lost.
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Does gambling have a Facebook problem?
The UK Gambling Commission has blasted Meta after it says the social firm deliberately allows illegal gambling to swamp Facebook and Instagram. UK gambling regulator chief Tim Miller skewered Meta's claims that such ads are removed by revealing in a speech at industry event ICE Barcelona that basic searches using the social platforms' own tools yielded large numbers of self-described non-compliant and unlicensed sites, raising the question why Meta waited only until sites were reported by users to remove them.
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Content planning 101
In a guest blog post by planning experts Kordiam, we bring you insights on content planning shaped by years of hands-on experience in supporting some of Europe's leading news organisations. Robert Dönges, Partner and Integration Manager for our technology partner Kordiam, shares what readers, listeners and viewers want, where they want it, and why news organisations can't really rely on a one-size-fits-all model. Take it away Robert!
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SEO reality & AI panic
In her new Substack, Lily Ray discusses the SEO chaos of 2025, and looks ahead to change. From the rise of ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and others, the calling of Google doomed and the "death of SEO", it was a wild ride full of fear, hype, and a bunch of new acronyms, but also harsh reality checks and a couple of plot twists.
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Old-school fix for modern SEO problems
Increasingly, Google seems to feel creative in how it treats your metadata. Found your footer as a meta description? Other text turning up in places you least expect it to be relevant? In order to avoid unwanted sneaky moves, there is no need for any fancy tools or hand-crafted meta descriptions - the data-nosnippet attribute has got your back. It'll block specific page sections from showing up in search snippets altogether, and make sure Google's creative streak ends with your website. Mark Williams-Cook even provided a visual representation, using one of our favourite retro tools.
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YouTube cracks down on AI slop
YouTube is looking at a makeover in 2026, with CEO Neal Mohan promising a "bigger, better, AI-powered" playground for creators. He is promising easier monetisation, better protections, a sprinkle of AI tools as well as cracking down on AI slop. So far it seems that YouTube wants to ride the AI wave while closing the door on low-quality content, but whether they will succeed time will tell.
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