When chatbots become the preferred, trusted news source for readers, they also will become the ad source for media buyers.
News sites, like newspapers before them, are losing audience, in their case to social media and media networks, according to the
2026 Digital News Report from Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Nieman
Lab reports. Almost all online news growth is coming from third-party sources, and people in the 18- to-34-year-old age range, are abandoning news sites more quickly than other groups.
“Social media and video networks are now more popular as a source of news than owned and operated online news websites and apps in 30 of our 48 markets,” the study states.
Newsroom leaders say they want stronger audience relationships, but their production systems still behave as though homepage traffic circa 2012 is about to make a triumphant comeback.
Understanding where a brand appears, and why, has become essential as AI and agentic services reshape search. Brand and company citations have become increasingly important in ChatGPT and Google AI
Overviews.
There are significant reasons to buy news content -- "meaning advertisers who avoid news scenes altogether are leaving money on the table."
Black men who voted for President Trump in 2024 and Joe Biden in 2020 are unhappy with Trump and also with mainstream news media, a focus group has determined, Huffington
Post reports. They now largely get news from nontraditional outlets and independent creators on YouTube and
other platforms. They are frustrated with the economy and gas prices.
Almost a third of U.S. adults — some 31% — often avoid stories about President Trump, according to a new poll by the Media Insight Project survey, Associated Press reports. Of
those surveyed, 38% of Democrats and 38% of independents avoid Trump stories, compared to 17% of Republicans. Among all groups, many sometimes avoid such coverage.
Conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats seek depth, but moderates not as much, a study by Pew Research Center from the Pew-Knight Initiative finds.
New research from Magid shows a decline in the association of the word “trustworthy” with news
organizations, TVNewsCheck reports. Of 44 emotional attributes surveyed, “trustworthy” ranks 39th. The study will be presented
at TVNewsCheck’s Programming Everywhere conference on April 19 at the NAB Show.
Artificial intelligence, while widely covered in the media, ranks at the bottom of the new sources used by Americans, a new Pew Research poll found, according to Mediaite. Of the individuals surveyed,
35% look to their preferred news organization for breaking news, 28% use search engines like Google or Bing. Only 1% turn to AI chatbots.
Events, partnerships and content services now make up a significant portion of publisher revenue.
Only 6% of Americans often get news from email newsletters, Pew Research Center reports.
But many use at least one legacy channel - local TV news, Medill reports.
Yahoo today launched its branded AI companion to guide users across its properties - its first version of an AI-powered answer engine. It also formed partnerships with Anthropic and Microsoft.
U.S. consumers ages 18-29 are using TikTok more than any other social-media platform - overtaking competitors YouTube, Facebook and Instagram for the first time, according to a survey conducted by
Pew Research Center.
Audiences now prefer a mixture of both print and digital content, the News/Media Alliance reports.
The decline in interest in following the news is happening across all age groups, Pew reports.
Among those who follow news influencers, most say it happens by chance rather than intention.
Teens typically use words like "biased," "boring" and "bad" to describe journalists, the News Literacy Project reports.
Republicans are less trusting than Democrats, and older people are more trusting than young Americans.
But nearly half of U.S. adults say the news makes them feel informed, a positive emotion associated with media.
Almost half of all AI answers had at least one significant issue, according to new research from the European Broadcasting Union and the BBC.
Most readers have negative feelings, but almost half feel informed by the news, Pew Research reports.
From July-September, the NFL continued to be the top program in TV ad impressions - posting a 12% hike to a 3% share of TV ad impressions.
Among those who do get news from chatbots, about a third say it is hard to determine what's true.
The good news is Americans say they are regularly consuming news. The bad news is they are increasingly getting their "news" from social media apps, especially X, TikTok and Facebook.
WPP Media's updated Advertising in 2030 report highlights trends as well as the future of media, technology and commerce as viewed by industry experts. Much of it revolves around biometrics and GAI.
Univision draws the youngest audience, while politically conservative outlets Newsmax and Breitbart have the oldest.
Demonetizing the open web could backfire, leaving search results filled with lower-quality content and fewer credible voices.
The primary reason people cite for not paying? There's plenty of free news available.