Azeem Azhar's Exponential View Inside the collapse of the internet economy (and what comes next)
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Oct 8, 2025 
In a compelling conversation, Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, shares his insights on the future of the internet economy. He discusses how AI answer engines are reshaping business models and the decline of traffic-based revenue. Matthew highlights the need for unique content, the potential for renewed value in local journalism, and the importance of negotiating fair compensation for creators. He also explores innovative ideas for a new content marketplace and warns against the dangers of clickbait in this evolving landscape.
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Search-To-Answer Engine Shift
- The web's currency has been human traffic driven by search engines for 25 years.
- Answer engines that return direct answers remove that traffic and break the existing funding model.
Better UX, Broken Economics
- Answer engines give a better user experience but strip traffic that funded creators.
- Some of the worst outcomes are content collapse or concentration under a few AI companies unless revenue flows back to creators.
Local Content Is New Gold
- AI companies prize unique, local, and quirky content that differentiates their models.
- Local publishers and niche creators can become more valuable as sources of distinctive signals for answer engines.