People vs Algorithms – Details, episodes & analysis

We take a mostly optimistic view of publishing in the AI era, even if Neil allows that search traffic will inexorably trend to zero. Plus: A path to publisher leverage against AI companies.

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* Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter

* Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter

* Alex Schleifer's Human Computer

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Chapters:

* 00:00 PvA Live @ Cannes

* 01:00 Welcome to PvA @ Cannes

* 02:16 Sustainable Media Ecosystem Of The Future

* 08:54 Changes in Advertising

* 18:11 Google's Reaction

* 22:01 AI Media Deals

* 35:38 Consolidation of Publishers

* 40:09 Q&A

* 44:36 Outro

Alex reviews the “liquid” interface and wonders if anyone at Cupertino actually used the beta outdoors.

Plus: a spirited defense of Zaslav as the media's embattled savior, fighting for the spoils of the operator class; the sad saga of the link economy and why publishers are stuck tolling bots for pennies.

Also: the gloriousness of popcorn and Coke, Peter Kafka as Good Product, and renewed appreciation for the Denver airport.

* Watch us on YouTube

* Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter

* Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter

* Alex Schleifer's Human Computer

* Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

Chapters:

* 00:00 Open

* 00:45 Welcome

* 08:14 In this episode

* 14:38 Liquid Glass

* 28:33 Sad State Of The Media Economy

* 39:34 AB Tags In

* 45:18 Death Of The Link Economy

* 48:54 AI Toll

* 59:12 Good Product

* 01:03:27 Outro

The tariff wars kicked off and confirmed that we are in a post-expertise era where your bona fides matter less than your confidence. Plus: celebrating GDPR’s impending demise. what to do with Vanity Fair, and Shopify’s AI manifesto.

• Watch us on YouTube
• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Human Computer
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

The old levers of the media business aren't working. This is a time of existential change in many parts of the media business. This week, Troy and Brian consider the divergent paths taken by The New York Times and CNN. The times has successfully reoriented its business to the DTC lane, after a near-death experience during the Financial Crisis. CNN, on the other hand, never faced such dire straits. Thanks to the insulation of the cable model, with carriage fees paid no matter the rating, CNN could put off such profound shifts. But as the old saying goes, if you're uncomfortable with change, you're going to like irrelevance even less. CNN is still a cash generator, producing a reported $750 million in profits last year, but the cable model that underpins its business is crumbling. What path should it take?

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

Apple has unveiled its long-anticipated entree into mixed reality, with the announcement of a headset that will be available starting next year. We discuss whether the Vision Pro stands a chance as a mass consumer product, along with the outlook for CNN as its revamp devolves into chaos.

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

Ads are like cockroaches. You might not like them, but they always find a way to survive and multiply. But without a doubt, the ad industry is facing momentous challenges, not just from short term economic pressures, but the possibility of structural collapse from the shifts driven by AI.

• The various events The Rebooting is doing in Cannes
• The New Attention Economy at the Kerv Cafe
• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

This week, Troy, Alex and I discuss a variety of topics, ranging from Alex’s beef with advertising, whether gaming will ever be fully mainstream, the potential collapse of the cable bundle without sports programming, and how AI could enable super-empowered individuals. Also, Troy reports back with curios from a trip to Tim Horton's.

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

The pageview has long been the atomic unit of the internet. The business of digital publishing has revolved around it. But in a world of chatbots bringing information directly to people, the power of the page is set to decline as fewer people need to bounce from website to website, instead getting their information “directly to the vein.” This week, Troy, Alex and Brian discuss how the biggest change to search in a generation will drastically change the digital media business.

• Temu
• Palantir AIP | Defense and Military
• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

The battle for engagement has long been a losing battle. The arrival of AI, and the prospect of limitless synthetic content, means media companies on the hunt for engagement are bringing a butter knife to a gun fight. Perhaps it’s time to consider ambient media, the humbler request for people’s partial attention but done in such a way as to establish durable human connection.

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

The commanding heights of the digital economy are control of the interface. It’s the interface through which the vast expanses of the tangle of data that makes up the digital economy are accessible. Think of the most powerful digital businesses and they are, in essence, interface businesses. Google is the interface for accessing information. Facebook is a social interface. TikTok is an entertainment interface. This week, Troy, Alex and Brian discuss how AI is already changing the interface for accessing information and implication that has for the media business and the digital economy as a whole.

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter