New York Times leans into video as search declines
The Times added 280,000 digital subscribers in Q2 2026, down from Q1, as CEO Meredith Kopit Levien blames declining search and touts video bets.

The Times added 280,000 digital subscribers in Q2 2026, down from Q1, as CEO Meredith Kopit Levien blames declining search and touts video bets.

ChatGPT users saw roughly twice as many ads per hour in July as in April, with mainstream brands replacing tech startups atop OpenAI's advertiser list.

Google now embeds publisher Top Stories carousels inside AI Overviews on 15-17% of trending news searches in the US and UK.

UK publishers' total digital revenue fell 4.55% in Q1 2026 after four straight quarters of growth, driven partly by AI answers.

Nine Entertainment will cut around 30 newsroom positions at the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, citing severe AI-driven disruption.

Organic Google referrals to eight major UK publishers fell 7.1% in a single quarter, a pace that would halve traffic by late 2027.

For the first time, bots account for more web traffic than humans, according to Cloudflare data.

Google's new AI ad formats could weaken publisher traffic further. But advertisers need credible answers, and that gives media new leverage.

Google’s AI search push may kill the old web traffic model, but it shows how firmly the company still controls the future of information.

WebFX reports a 796% growth in AI traffic from 2024 to 2025, with higher conversion rates, suggesting AI users are more decisive buyers.
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