Observed Signal · Oct 16, 2026 · Earnings Report · Source: Digiday · Impact: 4/5 · Sentiment: Positive
The Independent's social commerce revenue surpasses SEO
The Independent's social-commerce revenue surpassed its SEO-based revenue for the first time in September, indicating a shift toward social platforms and away from search traffic, which has declined partly due to AI. CEO Christian Broughton declared the old search-and-social model 'dead' and outlined four growth areas: AI, creator-led studio work, e-commerce, and membership, expected to contribute nearly half of 2026 revenue. The company reported £55.1 million in 2025 revenue, up 4%, with profit before tax rising 9% to £3.5 million. Broughton also highlighted AI productivity gains, including the 'Bulletin' news app with 12 million monthly users, the 'Eva' AI feature that reduced bounce rate, and a live news team six times more productive. Meanwhile, Meta's upcoming terms update on October 30 extends AI training scraping rights to all linked websites, criticized as a data grab that may override robots.txt and bypass licensing. In parallel, e-commerce platforms are navigating AI agent integration, with Amazon blocking third-party agents while Walmart and Target partner with OpenAI, and Zillow licensing data to Google for Gemini.
This news highlights a significant shift in publisher revenue models, showing that social commerce is becoming more important than traditional SEO-driven commerce. It provides insights into how publishers are adapting to changing traffic sources and embracing AI, which is relevant for the AdTech industry.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- The Independent's social-commerce revenue surpassed SEO-based revenue for the first time in September.
- CEO Christian Broughton declared the old search-and-social business model 'dead'.
- Meta will extend scraping rights to all websites linked on its platforms starting October 30.
- Media and legal experts claim Meta's new terms may override robots.txt and avoid AI licensing fees.
- Amazon blocks third-party AI agents, while Walmart and Target have licensing deals with OpenAI and Anthropic.
Connected Companies & Entities
9 Entities mapped“The Independent's social-commerce revenue edged past its SEO-based commerce revenue for the first time in September.”
“Meta is extending its scraping privileges to all websites linked on its platforms.”
“Amazon blocks third-party AI agents because it has the leverage to do so.”
“Walmart and Target cut licensing deals with OpenAI, Anthropic, et al.”
“Walmart and Target cut licensing deals with OpenAI, Anthropic, et al.”
“Zillow signed a deal with Google to license data for Gemini AI.”
“Zillow signed a deal with Google to license data for Gemini AI.”
“Mike Feeley joins PubMatic as VP, North America.”
“Crossmedia names Avi Ben-Zvi to oversee paid social ops.”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Publishers Diversify Audiences as AI Search Reshapes Discovery
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Publishers Pivot to Social Platforms as Google Traffic Falls
Digiday’s Media Briefing reports that publishers are increasingly pursuing audience growth and revenue on social platforms as Google referral traffic declines and AI-driven search changes pressurize owned-and-operated businesses. Companies such as People Inc. and Ziff Davis highlighted off-platform audience and revenue growth during recent Q1 earnings calls, offsetting declines in programmatic and display ad revenue. The playbook differs from the 2010s: publishers now treat platforms as destination channels, monetize via sponsorships, licensing, affiliate commerce, and first-party data outcomes, and rely on more diversified business models. Media executives and consultants warn the approach carries risks—platforms still control distribution and revenue terms—so publishers aim to treat platforms as one lane in a broader monetization strategy rather than the sole plan.
Publishers Push Subscriptions Amid Search Traffic Declines
At the Digiday Publishing Summit in Vail, Colorado, publishing executives said declines in search referral traffic are forcing publishers to urgently push direct reader revenue strategies such as subscriptions and memberships. Attendees described difficulty converting shrinking audiences, retraining newsrooms for subscriber-focused products, and competing with large subscription brands like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Publishers also reported pursuing off-platform audiences and social monetization (paid followers, social ads). AI was a major topic: publishers cited costly unauthorized AI bot crawls (one site saw 1.6 million OpenAI requests in a day) and discussed licensing, compliant crawlers, and new AI tools for creators. Supporting datapoints in the briefing included high journalist adoption of AI tools and product integrations such as Beehiiv’s MCP support and YouTube’s Gemini-powered creator tools.
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