Morning all, Chris here! Putting this up at the top because I think we always leave it too late - if you fancy sharing this newsletter or our latest episode with a friend, we'd really appreciate it. Have a good day!

Is Google dying? Or did the web grow up? — www.theatlantic.com

This is a faaaascinating read, and one that speaks to the ephemeral nature of life online. For The Atlantic, Charlie Warzel argues that 'one of the most-used tools on the internet is not what it used to be'. Warzel's article examines whether Google Search - the lifeblood of both the platform and the bedrock of many publisher strategies - is slowly becoming worse for its users:

"Most people don’t need a history lesson to know that Google has changed; they feel it. Try searching for a product on your smartphone and you’ll see that what was once a small teal bar featuring one “sponsored link” is now a hard-to-decipher, multi-scroll slog, filled with paid-product carousels; multiple paid-link ads... Once you’ve scrolled through that, multiple screen lengths below, you’ll find the unpaid search results. Like much of the internet in 2022, it feels monetized to death, soulless, and exhausting."

So what does that mean for publishers, who rely on search engines to deliver users into the safe harbour of their owned and operated sites? At one point does Search become so commerce-focused that it becomes a poor way for users to discover trusted publishers? Any total collapse is a way off yet - but nothing lasts forever, especially online.

4 things we learned about email newsletters from the Digital News Report 2022 — voices.media

For the first time, the Digital News Report has a whole chapter dedicated to understanding email news consumption, from its contribution to engagement to monetisation opportunities. We've been watching the rise of email newsletters closely, and have drawn out four learnings for publishers from the report.

Carriegate: No 10 admits pressuring The Times to drop Carrie Johnson story — www.independent.co.uk

An update on yesterday's newsletter lead here. It's a terrible look for No 10 (who honestly expects any more from them these days) but a worse one for The Times. Its silence on the matter is bad enough, but if it turns out it capitulated to Johnson and pals and betrayed the public? That should be an existential issue.

Channel 4 subtitles outage breached licence, Ofcom rules — www.theguardian.com

In the midst of an ongoing campaign from the UK government to sell it for unclear and counterproductive reasons, bad news for Channel 4. Ofcom has ruled that a two-month subtitle outage following damage caused to equipment in August 2021 breached the terms of its license.

This week's podcast

Special: Key findings from the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2022 — voices.media

In this special episode of Media Voices, Chris, Peter and Esther comb through the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2022 to pick out the key findings for publishers. Listen now to explore why news avoidance is up and trust is down; the relief we felt that climate coverage is on top of everyone's agenda; how the news habits of younger generations are growing more distinct; and what the report's first ever chapter dedicated to email newsletters had to say.

Conversations episode: Affino’s Markus Karlsson and TTG Media’s Steve Hinds on unlocking the benefits of software systems consolidation — voices.media

Publishing is way behind other industries when it comes to technology consolidation. This episode, Affino CEO Markus Karlsson and TTG Media Product Manager Steve Hinds join us to talk about the benefits of systems consolidation, the challenges publishers face, and how they can get started.