Following last week’s recent wave of enthusiasm about CloudFlare’s “Content Independence Day,” it’s worth asking exactly what publishers are protecting, as it has tools to block future promises for AI bots and caches.
As someone who has worked with hundreds of digital publishers over the past decade, I had the unusual privilege of sitting at countless decision tables. The obvious thing is: Blockingbots do not store media. Because what is “saved” has already been broken.
The Illusion of PageView Economy
The web economy, which relies on many people, was built and optimized for attention rather than value. For years, publishers pumped content designed for gaming algorithms, tracking programmatic revenue, and pad pageview metrics. That model only worked while traffic was cheap and monetization was outsourced to the ad technology platform.
It’s not sustainable and most people in the industry knew it.
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The alarm bell is ringing as AI is providing answers to users without sending clicks. But in many cases, the only thing that has been “stolen” is undifferentiated, unforgettable content that has never been built to meet the needs of real audiences.
If ChatGpt can replace archives, then that’s not the AI’s fault. It’s yours.
Blockingbots won’t get back money
That doesn’t mean resistance is useless. There is fair discussion to protect IP and promote better commercial terminology. But even if CloudFlare, Tollbit, or someone else succeeds in creating a market where AI companies pay for crawls, their revenue never approaches what PageView Economy once offered.
It may soften the blow. Does not replace the model.
Many of the strategies floating around look like that old South Park meme:
AI blocking may feel good, but it doesn’t address the real problem. Is your content actually worth protecting?
Shift: From Volume to Value – and a viable business
The difficult truth is that many publishers built their products for the platform, not for the people. And now they’re leaving the scramble behind.
A better approach starts with a shift from volume to value. Not all articles need to be ranked in searches or increase their 1 million views. But it should be clear, convenient and difficult to replicate. Content that is retained over time (what readers return doesn’t just fill in space, it solves the problem.
But the value alone is not enough. You need to know your niche. Know your audience. And most importantly, you know how to monetize them.
If the ads are play, you will need to back up your first party data. I’ve been banging about it for 50 years now.
Mumbrella Publish 2019
For events, follow the playbook that many have already proven: tight community, clear purpose, real utility.
There is still leverage but you need to use it
Whether you’re a niche B2C publisher, newsroom or brand, the same principles apply. The content must provide tangible values. It’s not visibility. It’s not a vanity metric.
Good news? Many publishers still have leverage. trust. distribution. Deep knowledge. But it’s only important if you use it to build something better.
AI did not destroy publications. It revealed the consequences of chasing attention rather than utilities.
This is not to underestimate the efforts involved. This is a tough task. The last 20 years of the web have been covered and are changing faster than most people can keep up.
But the reality remains. If you make something good, people will pay for it. Now is the time to work. Rather than building a wall around weak content, you want to make your product extremely valuable and people want to pay for it. And perhaps so are AI companies.
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