beehiiv

Publishers Pull Back from Google AI Search

Publishers and creators are reacting differently to the rise of AI-driven search: several publishers and publisher-facing services are preparing to block or delist crawlers used for search indexing and AI training, while some creators are leaning into AI search exposure. Beginning September 15, Cloudflare’s site-security software will default to blocking such crawlers for new publishers and free-tier users; publishers using Cloudflare include Financial Times, Condé Nast and The Atlantic. USA Today and creator network Beehiiv told Adweek they were preparing to delist Google. Google has been increasing AI investment even as its search and ads arm still grows; the company reported roughly $5.9 billion negative free cash flow. Studies cited show publishers receive a small share of AI-referral traffic, and companies including OpenAI and Microsoft are licensing publisher content or building publisher marketplaces.

Passionfroot raises $15M to expand US marketplace

Passionfroot, a Berlin-based B2B creator marketplace, raised $15 million in a Series A led by Insight Partners to expand into the U.S. and open offices in New York and São Paulo. The startup, which has grown revenue 13x in the last year and has paid creators at least $10 million in the past 18 months, plans to scale headcount and product capabilities. Since 2024 it launched an AI agent called Zest to help brands run and measure creator campaigns and says it uses a proprietary creator graph and a global payments wallet. Existing investors Creandum, Supernode Global and s16vc also participated; total funding to date exceeds $21 million.

Focus On Fundamentals Over Shiny Objects

This AdExchanger Talks podcast episode features Sharona Sankar-King, chief data and product officer at Havas Media Network, arguing that marketing success depends on fundamentals — customer understanding, aligned data strategy, and clear KPIs — rather than chasing every new AI feature or platform. Sankar-King recommends collecting only the data necessary to answer specific business questions, emphasizes the importance of analytical rigor (“garbage in, garbage out”), and stresses aligning leaders and workflows across intelligence, planning, activation, and measurement. The episode also covers transparency versus black-box platforms, Havas building its own AI operating system, and the role of causal AI in post-MMM measurement.