We are living in a transformative period of technological progress. Within just the last few years, the world has seen once-futuristic technologies like AI and self-driving electric cars become integrated into everyday life. The internet and social media continue to take a greater and greater role in the lives of people all over the world. However, the rise of technology has also granted substantial power to the world’s largest tech and software companies, who have become so globally relied upon that any changes made to a particular platform or product can substantially affect the way millions of people live their lives.
The ability for tech companies to shape the world is evident in their relationship with news (and thus, news publishers). It seems to be an industry trend for Big Tech to downplay or eliminate news from their platforms entirely. So, what are the implications of these trends for publishers worldwide? Let’s take a closer look at the specific actions big tech companies are taking to eliminate news, and what the consequences of these actions might be.
The Divorce Between Big Tech and News Publishers
Let’s begin our analysis with an overview of the anti-news moves that some of the largest search and social media companies have enacted over the last few years.
Facebook / Meta
Since 2019, Facebook’s News tab served to curate news content – from local to international – for users in supported countries. However, this tab was deprecated for users in the UK, France, and Germany in 2023, and in early 2024, Meta removed the news tab for American and Australian users, eventually removing the feature for all international users. Removing this tab was explained by Meta as a cost saving measure, since publishers were paid via licensing agreements to have their stories featured.
Twitter / X
While X (formerly known as Twitter) has significantly declined in relevance and active users since Elon Musk’s acquisition in 2022, it is still one of the more popular social media platforms used globally. Despite the anti-Musk sentiment among many news publishers, some of the largest ones have chosen to stay on the platform.
These publishers are choosing to stay on a platform that continues to grow more hostile towards them: in October 2023, news article headlines were removed from the platform. This meant that although users could still click on and read shared news stories, headlines were now obfuscated and effectively replaced with the sharing user’s included (and often biased) text.
Google / Alphabet
Primarily known as the internet’s leading search engine provider, Google has also taken steps to diminish the prominence of news publishers on its platform. In the EU, Google must comply with the European Copyright Directive, which costs them hundreds of millions of dollars annually in licensing fees to EU-based publishers. In response, in November 2024, they started testing the “impact” of removing EU news from search results. Although explained as a test that only affected a small percentage of European users, this move seems to be a precursor of further cost-saving measures involving the reduction of news content (and news publishers) on the platform.
Additionally, Google’s new AI Overview now appears at the top of the page for any search, summarizing content sourced from the search’s results. This is arguably bad for publishers, since their content is now accessible to users via AI summary without necessitating a visit to their site.
How are Publishers Impacted?
Now that we’ve covered what Big Tech is doing, let’s address the natural follow-up question: how are news publishers being impacted by this separation with Big Tech?
We’ll start with an obvious point: news publishers are now less visible on these platforms than ever before, which diminishes their relevance. Without prominent headlines on Twitter driving traffic to their sites, news publishers must work harder to promote their articles to an ever-declining number of active users. Meta’s removal of the “News” tab makes it harder for users to find news, further accelerating the decline of interest in news on that platform. And while Google’s AI Overview isn’t perfect, it’s still perceived as accurate enough for many users to rely on as an information source without checking other sites. The role of news in search and social media is eroding, and it seems that the less exposure people have to news, the less they seem to care about it.
Another direct consequence of the reduction in news visibility on these platforms is the subsequent economic impact on news publishers. Publishers who once received millions of dollars from licensing deals with Facebook News no longer have that source of revenue. And while difficult to quantify the impact, the removal of headlines from X / Twitter posts and Google’s AI Overview almost certainly disincentivizes users from clicking on links to news sites. When traffic to news sites declines, so does ad revenue and the opportunity to convert free readers into paying subscribers.
Whether to save costs, appease politicians, or other reasons, the removal of news from the internet’s largest search and social media platforms has the potential to result in long lasting consequences for publishers worldwide. These platforms heavily influence how hundreds of millions (if not billions) of people use the internet and access information. For users, the removal of news from these platforms might only mean that those who don’t explicitly seek other news sources will simply have their exposure to news reduced or eliminated. But for publishers, the removal of news from platforms thought of as the internet’s town square could result in decreased visibility, reduced revenue, and the reduction of their roles as critical parts of democracies worldwide.
How are Publishers Reacting?
Let’s conclude this article by looking at a few examples of what publishers are doing to make up for lost visibility, relevance, and revenue on Big Tech’s search and social media platforms.
Head-on Opposition
Like we mentioned earlier, some publishers are begrudgingly choosing to fight against the current on these platforms, resigning themselves to the “frenemy” relationship between themselves and Big Tech. For example, Giornale di Brescia, a popular Italian local newspaper, quit Facebook in 2020, citing that their comment sections were filled with hoaxes and arguments. However, they returned in April 2022, emphasizing their new policies and efforts to keep the discourse surrounding their posts civil. Their deputy editor for digital strategy Anna Masera admitted that Facebook is “where our audience is, so we need to be there too.”
Alternative Strategies
On the other hand, some publishers have reacted to Big Tech’s divorce from news by experimenting with new ways to drive more traffic to their sites. Take The Verge, for example, who transformed their site’s front page into a scrollable feed reminiscent of TikTok’s UI. Or Giant Freakin Robot, an independent publication which now focuses more on their growing youtube channel than their main site, which has allegedly been suppressed by Google’s algorithm. Independent publisher and media organization The Walrus has lost 75% of their Facebook traffic, but a new focus on attracting direct traffic via newsletters and editorials has brought their overall web traffic up to previous levels. Publishers can no longer rely on their news articles to be highly ranked in searches or circulated on social media, and some have found success with alternative strategies to drive traffic and generate revenue.
Whether they accept their new role or fight against Big Tech’s actions, the future for publishers on search and social media platforms remains uncertain. Ultimately, only time will tell how these actions will affect news publishers around the world.