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Home Daily News Roundup Nowhere To Go But Up; Rolling Out The (Code) Red Carpet
Daily News Roundup
Nowhere To Go But Up; Rolling Out The (Code) Red Carpet By AdExchanger
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025 – 12:03 am
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Homepage Hero?
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
That’s Newsweek’s course of action to combat the dip in traffic publishers are seeing due to growing chatbot use and Google AI Overviews, Digiday reports.
It’s developing an AI-powered homepage, based on Google’s AI Overviews, as part of a partnership with Google Cloud. The homepage will be customized to individual users with weather, news and stock info based on their geolocation, with an AI assistant available to answer any questions.
But unlike most publisher-built AI assistants, which only pull from their own content, Newsweek’s version will also pull from external sources.
That strategy – creating a homepage “in the style of AI mode” – might also give Newsweek’s homepage fresh relevance in an era when most readers bypass homepages entirely, says Burhan Hamid, co-founder of AI video ad platform streamr.ai.
But the bet on personalization isn’t just about innovation; it’s also about survival. Like most publishers, Newsweek has seen a drop in search referrals and a plateau in traffic, and it’s hoping to reverse the trend.
“It’s a perfect place to experiment,” says Newsweek CPO Bharat Krish. “We can’t do worse.”
Red Scare
Three years ago, Google’s senior leadership declared a “code red” a few weeks after the launch of a then brand-new AI tool called ChatGPT. Fast-forward to this week, and the tides have turned completely.
In a memo on Monday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a “code red” and outlined plans to immediately refocus the company’s efforts on improving the baseline ChatGPT model, The Information reports.
Specifically, that means ChatGPT will scale back noncore initiatives, including its daily news service called Pulse and its AI agents for health and shopping prompts. The yet-to-be-announced ads business will also face delays, according to the report.
But it’s hard to pin down precisely what the code-red sitch is for OpenAI. CFO Sarah Friar told investors last month that the company faces a growth slowdown, but exact metrics are murky. There’s scant public – or even internal – data on ChatGPT usage and users.
Which leaves us to wonder: Are subscriber additions slowing down, or are current users simply inputting fewer prompts?
Who knows. But whatever the problem, it’s worrisome enough for Altman to pull the fire alarm.
Oops, All Wrapped!
Fragmentation comes for us all one day. Spotify Wrapped is no exception.
It didn’t take long for Spotify’s annual end-of-year review, which first launched in 2015, to officially cement its status as a mainstream cultural touch point.
But after a disappointing 2024 showing, even more of Spotify’s competitors are smelling blood in the water this year.
Tuesday marked the simultaneous releases of Apple Music Replay, Amazon Music Delivered and YouTube Recap, the latter of which includes non-music video content for the first time this year. Meanwhile, Spotify Wrapped is still expected to drop sometime this week (or even possibly this morning).
Spotify still technically dominates in terms of branding when it comes to annual personalized listening recaps. After all, even people who use other services will often colloquially refer to their “Wrapped,” rather than their “Delivered” or their “Replay.”
But Spotify debuting last this year isn’t a good look, especially not when the company is already facing boycotts over decreased artist payouts, issues with AI (both in terms of in-platform slop and off-platform investments) and ICE recruitment ads.
Advertisers will probably remain loyal, though, because they get their very own version of Wrapped. In 2020, Spotify launched “Wrapped for Advertisers,” which is a B2B version of the recap feature that gathers insights on user behavior and market trends.
But Wait! There’s More
A Supreme Court case could make internet service providers liable for repeat copyright infringement by their subscribers – potentially forcing them to disconnect repeat offenders. [Morning Brew]
Paramount got backing from three Middle Eastern wealth funds (including the one that now co-owns Electronic Arts) for its recent bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. [Variety]
Anthropic has acquired JavaScript toolkit startup Bun to accelerate its generative AI Claude Code offering. [release]
TikTok Shop officially crossed $500 million in US sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. [Business Insider]
Meanwhile, both TikTok and LinkedIn are facing investigations by Irish media regulators over potential flaws in their content reporting mechanisms. [Bloomberg]
Netflix removes a feature that lets users cast shows from their phones to a TV – which critics say could be another way of cracking down on account sharing. [Wired]
Tom Poleman, iHeartRadio’s president and chief programming officer, tells employees the platform will not feature AI-generated personalities or play AI-generated music. [Billboard]
You’re Hired!
Growth consultancy Marketbridge appoints Bob Ray as CEO. [release]
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Newsweek is aggressively adapting to the seismic shift in digital advertising driven by AI, mirroring a “code red” response from other major players. The publisher, recognizing the dwindling traffic stemming from chatbot use and Google AI Overviews, is actively pursuing a strategy of creating an AI-powered homepage – essentially, a “homepage in the style of AI mode,” as coined by Burhan Hamid of streamr.ai. This isn’t simply about innovation; it’s a fundamental survival tactic in an era where readers are increasingly bypassing traditional homepages. Newsweek’s CPO, Bharat Krish, acknowledges the situation with a pragmatic assessment: “We can’t do worse.”
The parallels with OpenAI’s recent “code red” declaration—prompted by slowing growth and murky ChatGPT usage data—highlight the urgency of the situation. Sam Altman’s immediate refocusing on core ChatGPT improvements signals a critical response to concerns about user engagement and subscription additions. Altman’s decision to scale back noncore initiatives, including the daily news service Pulse and AI agents, demonstrates a concentrated effort to address perceived weaknesses in ChatGPT.
Beyond these strategic pivots, several broader trends are unfolding. Spotify’s annual “Wrapped” experience, a cultural touchstone since 2015, faces competition from Apple Music Replay, Amazon Music Delivered, and YouTube Recap, emphasizing the fragmentation of listening habits. The proliferation of personalized listening recaps underscores the need for platforms to maintain relevance in a rapidly changing media landscape.
Several noteworthy developments add further context to this evolving ecosystem. The potential for internet service providers to be held liable for subscriber copyright infringement, as outlined in a Supreme Court case, introduces a new layer of complexity. Simultaneously, investigations into content reporting mechanisms at TikTok and LinkedIn reflect growing regulatory scrutiny of social media platforms. Meanwhile, Meta’s ad platform is experiencing “Glitchmas,” a recurring period of instability, and both TikTok and LinkedIn are facing investigations into their content reporting.
The broader impact is evident in the changes within the digital advertising technology landscape. The departure of The Trade Desk’s long-time engineering lead, Jud Spencer, underscores the ongoing shifts and competition within the programmatic ecosystem. Furthermore, Marketbridge’s appointment of Bob Ray as CEO reflects a broader trend of leadership changes across the marketing consultancy sector.
These developments, combined with the strategic moves by Newsweek, illustrate a critical juncture in the digital advertising industry. The response to AI’s ascendance isn't simply about adopting new technologies; it's about fundamentally rethinking audience engagement, content delivery, and competitive positioning. |