The Future of Media, Explained - from Press Gazette Forbes CEO Sherry Phillips on life after Google
Nov 20, 2025
Sherry Phillips, CEO of Forbes, brings her wealth of experience to the conversation, detailing the significant shifts in media dynamics post-Google. She discusses Forbes' strategic pivot towards community-driven journalism and diversified revenue streams, including events and memberships. Sherry also tackles the impact of AI on traffic and programmatic advertising, revealing how Forbes is embracing new technology with an AI-driven dynamic paywall while ensuring trust in journalism. Her insights on leadership and upcoming initiatives showcase Forbes' commitment to innovation.
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Programmatic Traffic Decline
- Programmatic advertising that depends on high traffic has sharply declined for Forbes this year.
- Sherry Phillips links the drop to traffic loss from AI-driven changes in how Google surfaces publisher content.
Search Bypass Harms Brand Attribution
- Forbes lost search-driven referral traffic as AI overviews bypassed direct attribution for signature lists.
- That diminished advertisers' ability to target around Forbes' high-profile content like richest-person lists.
Monetize Franchises, Not Just Scale
- Double down on editorial franchises and convene their communities across platforms to reduce search dependence.
- Monetize those moments via events, sponsorships and social engagement instead of relying on Google traffic.