The Return of the Sales Force and Owned and Operated Digital Media
Open Web Publishers Referrals from Social and Google Slump.
One clear headwind publishers face is the heavy decline in traffic referrals from social media: Facebook (including Instagram) has squeezed its algorithms to become even more of a walled garden. A substantial chunk of the audience now uses TikTok, where it is impossible to place an open web link (only in the bio section). Publishers asked by Portada tell us that Google and Facebook referrals amounted to 80% of traffic five years ago. At the same time, the share has come down to less than 50% (approximately 33% Google and 15% Facebook properties). Direct traffic (or via e-letters) is now a larger share of the overall traffic of publishers. Still, overall traffic has declined due to decreased Google and social media-originated traffic. According to the latest report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, which surveyed more than 300 digital news publishing leaders from over 50 countries, (63%) said they are concerned about the sharp decline in referral traffic from social media, and, in response, three-quarters (77%) are committing to invest more in direct channels instead. One-fifth (22%) report resorting to cost-cutting measures due to the decline in traffic from social media.
Referrals from Open Web Publishers as % of Overall Traffic
| Referrer | 2019 | 2024 |
| 50% | 33% | |
| 30% | 15% | |
| Direct | 20% | 52% |
Source: Interviews of publishers with Portada
Consumer popularity of AI-driven chatbots may reduce Google search web referrals over time. However, the Open AI chatbot’s impact on consumer digital behavior is unclear. We recently interviewed S&P Global Managing Director Naveen Sarma, who interestingly told us that “AI should improve the effectiveness of digital advertising campaigns. This will draw more ad dollars to digital platforms and away from legacy media platforms.”
Social media originated traffic at publishers sites continues to decline, also due to the fact that it is not possible to place links on TikTok.
NGL’s Lawsuit against GoDigital
In August 2022, we reported that Mitú, bought by GoDigital in 2020, had acquired Hispanic digital media company NGL.
The new company was called NGLMitú. Unfortunately, the acquisition did not go smoothly. NGL is suing GoDigital in Delaware. NGL Co-founder John Leguizamo alleges that GoDigital failed to meet the financial obligations outlined in the acquisition agreement. Mike Leonard, a legal reporter at BloombergLaw, notes that the “lawsuit targets three affiliates as well as a law firm that allegedly helped cover their scheme to engineer a transaction consisting largely in deferred payments they had no intention of making.” It remains to be seen whether NGL’s or GoDigital’s view prevails in the lawsuit. Long-time NGL CEO and co-founder David Chitel left the CEO position last October.
