By Kate Hand
Last fall, I gave a presentation to Gardner Business Media’s content creators and sales teams about an as-yet-unknown Google Labs project: a new AI-powered search interface dubbed “Search Generative Experience”—since renamed AI Overviews.
AI Overviews is Google’s reaction to ChatGPT and Bing’s inclusion of AI in search (picture a panicked boardroom with someone slamming a table declaring, “We can’t be outdone by Bing!”). It is essentially an enormous, top-of-the-page summarization feature.
I’ll wait here while you go check it out, if you haven’t already. (To access, log in to your Google account with Incognito mode turned off, open a new tab in your browser, and click on the lab flask icon, upper right, then “Turn on.” Disclaimer: The process may change by the time you read this, including possibly becoming a default setting.)
Not near a browser? Here’s the long and short of it. The overview takes up about 90% of the page length. It answers search questions directly, summarizing info mixed from random web pages that (depending on what iteration you see) may or may not get small billing, with no click-through incentive. Sometimes one organic post shows on a page before scrolling. Sometimes you have to scroll past the overview and a half- dozen sponsored spots before you get to any organic content. The result (at least if you’re a cynic like me) is a veritable plagiarized school report where there should be links to a library of authoritative content.
It’s at this point in the presentation that I asked, “So … how do we as publishers react to this news?” and flipped to a slide with a mushroom cloud. BOOM. Bomb dropped.
A Model Based on Exploitation
Google’s integration of AI into search has sparked a significant, erhm, reaction among publishers and media observers.
Luther Lowe, head of public policy at Y Combinator, starkly described it as “the final chapter of bloodletting the web.” Similarly, Rutledge Daugette, CEO of TechRaptor, said, “[Google’s] focus is on zero- click searches that use information from publishers and writers who spend time and effort creating quality content, without offering any benefit other than the potential of a click.” Matt Novak, a tech reporter at Gizmodo, wrote in a Forbes piece, “At the risk of overstating the potential consequences, [Google’s search overhaul] will be like dropping a nuclear bomb on an online publishing industry that’s already struggling to survive.”
All of which echoes the response I witnessed the first time I presented this. Mouths agape. Whispers of WTH? How are we going to make money?
Well, here’s how. First, take a deep breath, and know that the mushroom cloud has some silver linings.
The Silver Linings (AKA Don’t Panic)
First, the effectiveness of AI Overviews hinges on its ability to produce summaries that are not only accurate and informative but also trusted by the public. This remains an ongoing challenge for Google, as maintaining the quality and credibility of AI-generated content is a monumental task, fraught with the risks of misinformation and lack of nuance.
Moreover, Google’s future in this arena depends on its continuous access to a vast pool of high-quality content to feed its algorithms. AI’s need for constant, fresh input clashes with a decreasing incentive for content creators to provide it. Cannibalizing publishers will only trigger a cycle whereby content quality and reliability spiral downward. (If you’re not sure what I mean by this, envision making a copy of a copy of a copy and so on. AI feeding on itself makes for a poor reproduction.) Generative AI can also create reasonable-sounding “wrong facts”—a phenomenon known as hallucinating—with no ability to fact-check itself.
Additionally, Google’s path to monetization in this model isn’t yet clear. Searches with answers that don’t require click-through means users won’t be clicking on ads to answer their queries either—and that is one giant hurdle. Traditionally, Google has profited immensely from clicks on ads placed alongside search results.
SGE’s primetime launch was rumored and delayed many times since I first presented about it. Then in May of this year, it underwent a costume change for its debut. Renamed AI Overviews, simplified to
remove most of the publisher attribution in earlier models, and trimmed down to show up in response to drastically fewer search queries (although according to reporting by Search Engine Roundtable, Google won’t disclose the percentage), it went live to its U.S. audience on May 15.
At only 4% market share compared with Google’s 92%, Bing had everything to gain and nothing to lose when it jumped on the AI bandwagon. Google, however, risks its whole auction-based, pay-per-click monetization model and its users’ trust. Launching AI Overviews as “SGE Light” is no surprise.
Publishers who are watching Google’s evolution can see that whether or not AI Overviews thrives or languishes, the fundamental (and, sadly, theoretical) contract between Google and publishers has changed. We write content; Google sends traffic; we all sell ads. AI drastically alters the digital landscape, marginalizing our contributions and undermining our economic models. A look at Google’s history (see sidebar “The Evolution of SERP”) shows that if they can make money torching the “contract,” they will.
So what follows is a five-step playbook for publishers operating in an AI world.
#1 Leverage AI to Your Benefit in Content Creation and Customization
It’s imperative that we think of AI as a tool, not a product. Robert Rose of the Content Marketing Institute said, “AI doesn’t solve anything but is an opportunity to solve many things” (for a few, see sidebar “AI Can Effectively …”).
Content creators in particular will give serious side eye to the suggestion they use AI. But failing to recognize its speed and utility can be compared to continuing to consult a library of encyclopedias rather than searching the web. Editorial teams should view AI as a partner that can assist in organizing content, suggesting ideas, optimizing SEO, and even drafting preliminary articles that can then be refined by editors. (Note: The first draft of this article was created with ChatGPT based on a PowerPoint I prompted using it. Most of it was junk, but I found it far easier to start with a terrible first draft than to stare down an utterly blank page.)
This approach allows creators to focus on fact-checking and adding unique insights and interview quotes to the content, elements AI can’t replicate.
Encourage teams to embrace AI and enthusiastically share its benefits rather than hide shamefully behind them. Provide training on its capabilities and continuously explore ways to use it to support the creative process. Turning it from a perceived threat into a valuable ally will help you gain a significant competitive edge.
#2 Gate Your Content to Grow a Known Audience and Protect Your Assets
Implementing a gated content strategy involves asking users to fill out a simple registration form (name, job title, email, and company) before accessing certain articles, enabling you to build a valuable database of engaged readers. If you haven’t yet made the leap to gate your content, now is the time. Here’s why:
- Offset the impact of search volatility. Create a more stable environment wherein access to content (and thus traffic) is more predictable.
- Treat premium content with the value it deserves. High-quality original content requires significant resources to produce. Reinforce its value and justify the investment by asking for something in return.
- Protect your site from bots. Gating helps protect your content from being scraped, including by AI, which can lead to revenue loss and dilution of brand authority.
- Better understand your audience. When users register to access gated content, they provide valuable data that can inform your content strategy and marketing efforts.
Gating is a little scary. What if the majority of users going forward don’t, well, click? It’s true that a lot of them won’t, but that’s OK. Remember that the goal for any company is never to just drive traffic, but to convert that traffic—to a newsletter sign-up, trial, demo, etc. You want that organic traffic to take an action, and it’s likely far fewer of them will at the very top of the funnel.
#3 Collect, Tout, and Protect Your First-Party Data
At the recent Niche Media Summit in Chicago, a keynote speaker said, “Data is the new king,” and although my inner journalism grad wept, I had to agree with her. The value of your first- party data can’t be overstated in this new world. Understanding and growing it will be key.
First-party data, collected directly from your audience through interactions such as website visits, subscriptions, and registrations offers unparalleled insights into reader preferences and behaviors.
Unlike second-party data, which is essentially someone else’s first-party data shared, or third-party, purchased from external aggregators, first-party is unique to your organization. Moreover, as privacy concerns grow and regulations like GDPR and CCPA tighten, the importance of first-party data only intensifies, offering a direct and compliant way to engage with your audience.
The new audience game is about quality over quantity. Retire from the business of low-cost leads; high-click, indeterminate relevancy; and CPM. Instead, make your marketing and sales message all about real people (audience), real purchasing power, and leads with substance.
#4 Invest in Platforms and Tools That Side-Step Fickle Third-Party Platforms
Read recent headlines, including “Publishers See Dramatic Drop in Facebook Referral Traffic As the Social Platform Signals Exit From News Business” (CNN), “Referral Traffic From X Continues to Decline Sharply for Publishers” (Digiday), and “Google Unveils Plan to Demolish the Journalism Industry Using AI” (Futurism), and it’s easy to see a trend. Third-party platforms are garbage. Kidding … sort of. They’re incredibly useful and necessary, but they’re also a poor foundation on which to build your business. As you seek to make investments in publishing, prioritize media platforms where you are in control, where you have direct interaction with and control over your audience. These include (to varying extents) in-person events, print magazines, newsletters, membership models, subscriptions, push alerts, quizzes/surveys, apps, and video/podcasts.
#5 Promote Print as the Premier (and More Necessary Than Ever) Push Mechanism and Media of Discovery
Google has never been a great tool for discovery, but with the launch of AI Overviews, exploration becomes more difficult. Magazines could be poised for a resurgence, and as a publisher who believes in and has invested in print, you can take advantage of this opening in the marketplace of ideas. Print media still holds significant value, particularly in terms of credibility and reader engagement. Position your print product as a medium of:
- Tangible discovery. Print materials reach audiences with information, solutions, and products they didn’t know existed and wouldn’t have known to “Google”—making print the ideal push mechanism.
- Impeccable authority. Studies have shown that consumers often trust print media more than digital sources, which can be prone to misinformation. This is a gap sure to widen in the age of AI.
- Engagement and retention. Print media typically involves more prolonged engagement per session compared to digital media, which is often skimmed quickly.
Poised for Success
No matter how large or small, savvy niche publishers are well positioned for the future. Publishers with high-quality audiences, sky-high authority, valuable first-party data, nuanced content, and balanced media portfolios with desirable discovery tools are in the absolute best position to weather the inevitable changes technology will bring.
Here’s the bottom line: Yes, your analytics will take a hit with AI Overviews, maybe a big one, but so will everyone else’s—including Google’s. This will be an opportunity to go after marketing dollars aggressively with the argument that your products reach real people with real buying power.
Kate Hand is executive vice president, operations at Gardner Business Media, a new role she’s embracing after being on the content, SEO, and web development side of the business for more than 15 years. Kate loves great content, process optimization, and adding bright wallpaper to every room of her house. Connect via hand@pagesthemagazine.com.
