New research: How publishers are approaching audience development and AI

51% of publishers are concerned about traffic erosion from AI platforms. But 31% are seeing more traffic from the LLMs.

That's just one of the many findings from my new research in partnership with Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting. Together, we took an indepth look at how publishers are attracting and retaining audiences in 2025.

Here are some of our top findings:

🔎 Search traffic is down. 50% of publishers are reporting declines. But it's not just AI that's causing it.

📰 Newsletters and direct traffic are rising—62% see newsletters as a top driver.

More publishers are setting aside budget for audience development efforts, which is good. But audience development is spread across roles and divisions, and as a result, it's challenged by siloes and inefficiencies.

That's where audience data platforms (which are increasingly being infused with AI) can help.

It was amazing to work with Brian - who I've known for many years - and the rest of the Rebooting team, as well as Ben Geller, Erika Kalar and James Capo at Omeda, which sponsored the paper.

This was my first time diving into audience development as a research topic, and it was absolutely fascinating. You can download the full white paper on The Rebooting.

And while I’m here, I want to make a quick plug to sign up for TRB Pro, The Rebooting’s new membership community. You’ll get full access to all TRB content, invites to networking events and podcast recordings, as well as access to online community and networking features.