Publishers don’t face small shifts in trends like other industries do. Instead, they’re weathering a relentless wave of changes: algorithm shifts, SEO overhauls, Google cookie deprecation, made-for-advertising sites, ad tech commoditization.
Once, search traffic was a dependable faucet. Now, AI-powered zero-click summaries have rerouted that stream. Organic visits can drop 34% to 79% when AI previews appear in search. In one striking report, news publisher visits plunged from 2.3 billion to 1.7 billion — a 25% loss. More broadly, zero-click search accounted for nearly 69% of news queries as of May 2025, up from 56% in May 2024, as user behavior continues to shift.
Traffic is falling, and revenue is the real casualty. If publishers don’t adapt fast to this new tsunami, they’ll feel like — and soon become — a museum: preserved, admired, but obsolete.
Building products that create audience habits
Traffic loss isn’t a blip — it’s a warning sign. AI won’t kill journalism, but mediocrity will. If publishers are still acting like an old newspaper and not a product company, AI will shut them down.
To stay relevant, publishers need to build experiences that make people want to stay and come back tomorrow. This means knowing their audience, tracking their behavior, refining their user experience relentlessly and designing for loyalty with clean user interface, fast load times, contextual visuals and story formats that feel alive, not interchangeable. It’s not just about clicks. It’s about asking: What reason does a reader have to come back tomorrow? Why would someone spend 30 minutes on this site instead of 90 seconds?
Great journalism isn’t enough anymore; it needs smart packaging. That’s why publishers have to think like product designers: tap into short-form video, visual explainers, user-generated content and contextual recommendations that reflect what people actually care about.
Every site visit is a chance to build a habit. In a zero-click world, the publishers who treat their sites like products, not feeds, will succeed.
Innovation is essential for publishers’ futures
From an editor-in-chief to a subscriber, people are consuming TikTok, Reddit, Instagram and a dozen newsletters before 9 a.m. Those platforms reflect today’s media consumption. Publishers need to meet that reality with editorial voices that match the moment. They can embrace influencers, hybrid creators and affinity-driven content that still aligns with their brand — and bring those elements into their own domain.
Consider Spotify, which added short-form video to keep pace with changing consumption. It was a visionary, not gimmicky, choice for the audio platform. Similarly, Airbnb introduced online experiences, like virtual pasta-making classes, during the pandemic. This extended Airbnb’s DNA of immersive, human connection into a new format without distracting from its core identity.
Publishers should take note: Innovation isn’t optional. It’s how offense is played in a shifting game.
Publishers are controlling their economics and reinvesting in relevance
The most valuable thing a publisher can own isn’t audience data — it’s control. Not partial control, but full control of the levers that drive traffic, monetization and growth. For too long, publishers have played defense by ceding power to algorithms, intermediaries and ad systems that dictate who sees their content, when and for how long.
Traffic is the fuel that powers everything. Publishers should establish leverage by advertising themselves, building mutually beneficial partnerships and diversifying how audiences discover them.
Publishers need to establish their value by investing in differentiated offerings for advertisers and creating environments where performance marketers, brands and agencies want to experiment. Thousands of B2C brands are looking for alternatives to social channels; publishers can meet that demand with creative and high-performing products. That requires a willingness to invest internally in product, engineering and innovation. Unfortunately, every publisher’s demand sales deck looks the same in the eyes of the buy-side.
Growth comes from expansion and a publisher’s position and value in the ecosystem. Growth isn’t just about more content; it’s about new business lines that are synergistic with a publisher’s brand and audience. That could mean events, influencer collaborations or even B2C product lines where publishers can leverage their authority and brand equity to turn engagement into commerce.
In the end, control and reinvestment aren’t just tactics — they’re how businesses grow and succeed.
Why revenue resilience is the publisher’s lifeline
Revenue is the lifeline of every business. As long as a company has revenue, it can innovate, evolve, replace systems, hire talent and reimagine its future. When revenue stalls, everything else follows.
In publishing, the truth is magnified. In product development, relying on one channel is a slow death sentence. For publishers, that channel just broke. AI is rewriting the plumbing faster than any algorithm shift. The solution is modern reinvention, not nostalgia.
Publishers that act like product companies — owning their economics, refining user experience and experimenting with diversified engagement — will do more than withstand the storm. They’ll define the future.
Every wave can feel like a flood, but resilience starts with product, control and relevance. If publishers stop chasing empty clicks and start building compelling products, they won’t become relics. Instead of just riding the next wave of journalism, they’ll define it.
Partner insights from EX.CO