Uncle Sam's news grabs UK attention, no bots in the sandbox, and end of an era for public media

Reddit for the win, SEO meets AI, Finland vs misinformation, and 2026 SEO predictions - all in this week's Content Aware.

Published: 15:01, 08 January 2026

Corbidge comments on...what's waiting ahead
As 2026 begins, publishers are still facing the pressure as LLMs continue to reproduce copyrighted books with alarming fidelity. Copyright isn't quietly going to yield to "innovation", and with AI search on the rise and US and EU legal views drifting apart, the upcoming year will be interesting when it comes to copyright, innovation, and the economics of information. Hey, at least we'll get lots of the thing we love most, news.
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Stars, stripes, and surging UK clicks
UK and US news brands have always been friendly competitors in reaching each other's audiences across the Atlantic, but this time British publishers must be taking notes after two US brands, CNN and Forbes, have topped the UK's biggest growth news sites in most recent figures. But it is not all bleak, UK pride was upheld by Which?, the only UK site to post double-digit growth. As their CMS provider, we can't help but celebrate with them. Onwards and upwards!
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Algorithms, agendas, and the battle for trust
As journalism strides into 2026, it's still the case that AI remains our biggest question mark. Editors, media executives, and curious audiences alike are all busy discussing over what comes next and exchanging their predictions. Five big themes keep coming up, joined by a few side quests such as AI nudging the news agenda, business models scrambling as direct traffic dries up, and trust drifting from brands to recognisable individuals. Unlike our last newsletter, there are no crystal balls here, but there are plenty of signs that the next chapter of journalism is already being written. Buckle up!
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Trust, but verified
The Content Authenticity Initiative is heading into year six with a well-earned victory lap. A handful of idealists grew into a 6,000 member golden coalition, which is quietly wiring trust into the internet, and 2025 was the payoff year. It came after years of choosing the harder road, open standards, open source, endless collaboration, now Content Credentials are showing up in cameras, phones, enterprise workflows, as well as developer toolkits. As 2026 is rolling in, media transparency is finally shifting from something that's nice to have, to something that is expected by default. Provenance is no longer stuck in pilot mode, now it's becoming part of everyday media life.
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AD transparency gets a glow-up
Programmatic advertising's trust problem might finally be going to rehab. The Trade Desk is wooing big publishers to its new OpenAds auction, with promises of fewer hidden fees and a clearer view of where their precious ad dollars really go. Others are also jumping into the waters, Magnite and AI-powered performance partner Cognitiv have joined forces, betting on smarter algorithms and a richer bidstream against the chaos of today's multi-channel ad world.
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Four-year AI toy timeout
California State Senator Steve Padilla wants to hit the brakes when it comes to AI in kids' toys. A proposed bill would enforce a four-year ban on chatbots aimed at children, citing safety risks and Big Tech's tendency to look at young users and see lab rats. This measure would also potentially put California on a collision course with the Trump administration's stated aim of Federal law setting the rules for AI, enacted by Executive Order. However, the order explicitly features exceptions for state laws related to the safety of minors.
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Fact-checkers in training
Besides reading and writing, Finland wants to make sure the kids know how to fact-check the world as well. From aged three, students are learning how to spot fake news, analyse media, and now also decode AI-generated images and videos. The schools have something called "Newspaper Week" where they are handing out ABC Books of Media Literacy instead of candy, making verifying information as normal as recess. With misinformation being everywhere and AI tools getting trickier day to day, the Finnish educators are doubling down and all agreeing that knowing what's real and what isn't is a superpower worth having.
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Forums over feeds
Reddit has quietly scooched in front of TikTok and claimed the UK's fourth most-visited social media crown, with Gen Z loving every single messy and human-generated minute of it. With a little help of Google, who tweaked its search algorithms and AI deals who put Reddit content front and centre, more Brits are turning to forums for things such as parenting trips, skincare hacks, and sports banter. The site that is filled with honest and unpolished advice stands in sharp contrast to AI-generated slop, and its upvotes, downvotes, and endless threads are winning right now.
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Google gambles, publishers win
Google's attempt to pay its way out of a jury trial didn't go as planned. In what could be seen as a bold move at the time, the tech giant handed over damages before it even went to trial, in hopes to dodge scrutiny completely. A US judge said hard pass on that, threw the plan out, and brought The Daily Mail, USA Today, and 200 other publishers even closer to victory and a potential payday. Ricky Sutton shares more details.
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2026 SEO toss across 
Google's December 2025 Core Update has landed, and it landed like a ton of bricks. A handful of sites, such as The Times and MoneySavingExpert saw some sweet visibility boosts, but at the same time hits came hard for others such as The Guardian, Sky News, and The Telegraph. Thanks to Site Reputation penalties, not even top-tier content was spared, leaving teams scrambling for search traffic. As you can guess, Google is still king of clicks, and 2026 looks set to be a brutal and eventful game of SEO musical chairs.
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Are you visible or invisible? 
Just like everything else, SEO also got a makeover with a little help of AI (whether we like it or not). Traditional clicks now became mostly optional, as search results are dominated by generative summaries that skim content, quote snippets, and sometimes just don't even send visitors your way. The playbook? Answer-first content, structured data, and authority signals. Search Engine Land knows more.
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CPB pulls the plug
The US Corporation for Public Broadcasting is officially closing the curtain, after more than half a century of funding PBS, NPR, and hundreds of public stations. As Congress has cut the purse strings, CPB's board opted for a graceful exit and made sure that as their final hoorah, they keep archives such as the American Archive of Public Broadcasting and its records safe. While leaders insist that public media isn't dead but just temporarily out of the game, CPB itself went quiet and slowly faded into history.
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AI logs under fire
OpenAI just lost a legal showdown. A US Judge ruled that the AI firm must hand over 20 million de-identified ChatGPT logs to news organisations who are looking for copyright infringements. OpenAI hoped to limit the search, but the judge wasn't having it. The attention now switched to the millions of chats that were thought to be deleted. Plaintiffs which are led by The New York Times are all crying foul and accusing OpenAI (and Microsoft, because of Copilot logs) of using delay tactics and selective preservation, saving the data that is helpful to them while tossing the one that isn't. Sanctions are surely on the table.
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HarperCollins bets on AI
HarperCollins France decided to throw out human translations for AI when it comes to the translations of their Harlequin romance novels. The publisher is banking on a machine called BrIAn, aided by a small team of freelancers, which will crank out translations cheaper and faster than humans ever could. French translators are already calling it soulless, a move that kills nuance, creativity, and jobs, while HarperCollins says it's just trying to keep prices low while also keeping the romance flowing.
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SEO's new frontier
It might be time to brace ourselves, as SEO in 2026 will be another round of a survival game. After the panic mode we've all been in last year, the focus now has shifted from frantic clicks to smarter workflows, redefining success, and measuring impact. Newzdash has asked 20 SEO experts on what's coming next and what to do if you want to conquer SEO in 2026.
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