Marketecture: Get Smart. Fast. Episode 151: How Publishers Can Get Paid for AI, with Matthew Goldstein
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Dec 5, 2025 Matthew Goldstein, a publisher-focused industry analyst, tackles the challenges and opportunities AI brings to the publishing world. He discusses the growing concern among publishers about AI using their content without compensation, shifting focus from traffic declines. Goldstein also touches on the fluctuating landscape of upfront licensing deals, the state of bot blocking efforts, and the rise of a split web where agents pull content for users. The conversation highlights the potential for real-time content marketplaces and Google's structural advantages in this evolving ecosystem.
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Publishers' Main Concern: Paid For AI Use
- Publishers care less about raw traffic drops and more about AI models taking their content and not paying for it.
- Matthew Goldstein sees getting paid for training and retrieval as the core publisher concern going forward.
The Red Button Bot-Blocking Moment
- Matthew recalled pressing a ceremonial 'red button' at a Cloudflare launch event to start bot blocking in July.
- The moment looked symbolic but marked a real industry push toward blocking AI crawlers.
Coordinate Bot Blocking With Vendors
- Block AI bots aggressively but acknowledge current implementations are inconsistent across vendors and publishers.
- Coordinate with Akamai, Cloudflare, DataDome and others to build a shared, authoritative block list to improve effectiveness.