But the alternative is bleak. If Google refuses to strike licensing agreements, more premium publishers could follow suit in denying its crawlers access. Doing so would degrade the quality of search results, making it harder for consumers to find accurate news. Just as social media has become a cesspool of misinformation, the open web could be overcome with untrustworthy content too.
“Our content is showing up and powering generative experiences on Google at least hundreds of millions of times a day,” said the media executive. “If we weren’t in it, every one of those experiences would be worse.”
Still, executives at other media companies are not so sure. The existing deal is a lose-lose situation for publishers: Allowing Google to scrape their content for free is self-defeating, but opting out has no clear material benefit either, according to one media operator who also wished to remain anonymous because of business dealings with the company.
Plus, if a company opts out now, there is no telling what negative externalities that could create in the future, the operator added. Google is not compensating publishers for their data now, but if it does in the future, could those payouts be harmed by restricting the Google crawler in the interim? The options are unappealing.
Nonetheless, that publishers are considering opting out of Google Search marks a symbolic milestone in the lifecycle of the open web. The posturing is all part of a broader negotiation, to be sure, but the threats are no longer empty.
No publisher wants to make do without Google, but many are increasingly prepared to do so. Google, on the other hand, has no such backup plan.
Talking Heds
Newsweek Weakens (SCOOP): Traffic has fallen across the industry, but few have been hit harder than Newsweek, whose readership has declined from 100 million in May 2025 to 23 million last month, a drop of nearly 75%, according to Similarweb data. These declines have taken their toll: The company saw sales and product layoffs in June, rankings team layoffs in March, and video team layoffs in May, according to people familiar with the matter. Two key executives, the head of events Megan Knapp and chief product officer Bharat Krish, have both left the company in recent months. Last January, I chronicled the unlikely turnaround story Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad had authored at the outlet, based largely on the strength of its programmatic advertising business. With audiences dwindling, the business has contracted in tandem.
The YouTubification of Netflix: On Tuesday, Netflix announced a sweeping new series of deals with digital publishers from Condé Nast, People Inc., Hearst Magazines, and more. The licensing arrangements will see premium video produced by the publishers brought to Netflix, meaning fans can find series like Walking Tours from Architectural Digest and Struggle Meals from Tastemade on the streaming service. The move is yet another foray from Netflix into bringing digital video into its ecosystem, following its tie-up last year to bring Ringer and Barstool podcasts onto the platform. So far, the company has stopped short of bringing user-generated content inside its gates, but this deal brings it one step closer. Video content from these publishers matches the Netflix pedigree and ensures a brand safe environment for advertisers, but it furthers the transformation of Netflix into a subscription-supported YouTube.
