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Skip to content Image: Jared Newman / Foundry Despite rumors of a major redesign for Apple’s TV streaming platform, the forthcoming tvOS 26 update doesn’t look all that different. If you want to see for yourself, the public tvOS 26 beta is now available ahead of a broader launch this fall. To install it on your Apple TV, head to Settings > System > Software Updates > Beta Updates, then choose tvOS 26 Public Beta. (Standard beta disclaimer applies: Don’t try it unless you’re prepared for bugs.) Just don’t expect major changes from the current tvOS 18 software. While Apple’s updating its visual style and improving some peripheral features, the experience is about the same, for better or worse. “Liquid Glass” redesign Jared Newman / Foundry The most noticeable difference is Apple’s new design language, which it’s calling “Liquid Glass.” Apple describes the visual refresh with some flowery language—”more expressive and delightful while being instantly familiar”—but it boils down to having more distinct borders around buttons and a translucent, frosted effect behind them. The most noticeable flourish is the way buttons reflect what’s on the screen, as seen when the light from a video’s timestamp bounces off the buttons below. Notice how the “00:45” timestamp reflects off the top of the “Info” button. Jared Newman / Foundry The result is both impressive to behold and a bit distracting, as interface elements now have lots of visual effects flickering underneath them. It also comes at a computational cost: Only second- and third-gen Apple TV models (from 2021 and 2022, respectively) support the new look. Visuals aside, tvOS 26 has nearly same layout as before. Apple’s TV app still opens with a click of the home button—though savvy users know to load the app grid by default instead—and the arrangement of menu items is unchanged. The biggest difference is that movie and show thumbnails in Apple’s TV app look more like theatrical posters, with a portrait layout. More prominent profiles Jared Newman / Foundry The other big change in tvOS is the way Apple is pushing individual user profiles. Apple added support for multiple users—each with their own recommendations and “Continue Watching” histories—back in 2019 with tvOS 13, but switching between profiles required digging through menus. With tvOS 26, you’ll see a profile selection screen each time the device wakes up. (You can also disable this by heading to You’ll find it under Settings > Users and Accounts > Who’s Watching, then selecting “Last Profile” instead of “Ask Every Time.”) Selecting “Ask Every Time” restores the old profile behavior. Jared Newman / Foundry The system also encourages people to make their own profiles if they’re part of an Apple Family Sharing group, with suggested icons on the profile selection screen. Selecting a suggested profile will send a notification to the user’s iPhone so they can complete the setup. Unfortunately, the more prominent profile selector doesn’t include any new parental controls. Users’ pleas for per-profile content restrictions and Screen Time integration remain unanswered. Still, removing the friction from profile selection could be helpful in homes where people are constantly muddling each other’s recommendations New tvOS 26 features The Apple TV’s next software update also includes some new tricks, though most of them aren’t directly related to watching TV. Apple Music’s karaoke mode, for instance, is more prominent now, with a dedicated “Sing” shortcut on the home screen. From here users can start a new karaoke session and invite others to participate with a QR code. This ties into a new trick that lets users sing into their iPhones and hear their voice through the TV. The iPhone displays a menu for adjusting the singer’s volume, adding reverb, and turning the original vocals up or down. Apple As before, Apple Music Sing requires a third-gen Apple TV 4K from 2022; plus, an Apple Music subscription. To use the iPhone as a mic, both the Apple TV and iPhone must be running tvOS 26, which means you’ll need to enroll both devices in the beta program to try it now. That’s probably not worthwhile unless you can tolerate a buggier iPhone for the next couple of months. Apple’s also adding call notifications to tvOS 26. If you’re watching TV and a phone or Facetime Audio call comes in, you’ll see an option to accept it from the Apple TV screen. The caller will then be placed on hold until you pick up the phone. A couple other little additions: If you route Apple TV audio through an AirPlay speaker, tvOS 26 will let you set it as the default audio source, so it’ll connect automatically after waking up or rebooting. There’s also a new way for app makers to save logins to your Apple account, so you can sign in automatically on new devices, though it’s unclear which apps will support this. Don’t fix what isn’t broken? Jared Newman / Foundry Apple TV is still my favorite streaming platform (even if I’m trying to replace it with a living room PC instead), so I don’t mind the lack of sweeping changes in tvOS 26. While other platforms are increasingly focused on more intrusive ads and extra menu clutter, Apple TV remains a calmer and cleaner alternative. That’s not going to change in tvOS 26, even if it comes with some fancy new visuals. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Author: Jared Newman, Contributor Jared has been a freelance technology journalist for more than 15 years and is a regular contributor to PCWorld, Fast Company, and TechHive, where he’s written a weekly cord-cutting column since 2014. His Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter has more than 30,000 subscribers, and his Advisorator tech advice newsletter is read by nearly 10,000 people each week. Jared has a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and specializes in making complex tech topics easy to understand, from streaming and cord-cutting to neat apps and useful tech tricks. He is based in Cincinnati, OH. Read More

Image: Willis Lai / IDG Choosing a laptop for college doesn’t need to be stressful. Whether you’re dealing with back-to-back lectures, editing videos for a media course, or coding late into the night, having something that actually works for you makes a huge difference. The trick is understanding which specs matter and not blowing your hard earned moolah on fancy extras you’ll never use. That’s where we come in. We break things down without all the technical word vomit, so you can quickly find the best machine for your lifestyle. From featherlight models that disappear in your bag to laptops with marathon battery life, we’ve got you covered. Asus Zenbook 14 OLED – Best overall Pros Robust build quality Attractive OLED touchscreen Good CPU and integrated GPU performance Amazing battery life Cons Uninspired design Keyboard isn’t memorable Mediocre connectivity Best Prices Today: Who should buy the Asus Zenbook? If you want a laptop that delivers fast performance, long battery life, and a screen that’s genuinely good, this is the one to go for. The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED checks all the right boxes. It’s got an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS CPU, 16GB RAM, and a speedy 512GB SSD, so it can easily handle essays, Zoom calls, and all those open browser tabs. Plus, it’s light enough to carry around campus without being a pain in the (literal) neck. The 14-inch 1920×1200 OLED touchscreen really steals the show, though. Movies, photos, and even spreadsheets look sharp and colorful. And with a 75 watt-hour battery, you’ll easily get a full day (approx. 16 hours) of use without hunting for an outlet in the library. Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: Further considerations This laptop isn’t built for heavy gaming or 3D work, but does great with pretty much everything else. The keyboard is fine, but not mind-blowing. It doesn’t have tons of ports, but covers what you really need — USB-C with DisplayPort and power delivery, HDMI, and a headphone jack. The real win here is the balance. Long battery life, gorgeous screen, decent build quality, and smooth performance — all wrapped up neatly in a portable package. At around $850, it’s tough to beat, which is why it’s our best overall laptop for students this year. Read our full Asus Zenbook 14 OLED review Acer Aspire Go 15 – Best budget laptop for students Pros Affordable Decent battery life Good display visibility Cons Big and bulky Cheap build Limited performance Best Prices Today: Who should buy the Acer Aspire Go 15? If you’re on a limited budget and just need a laptop that gets your homework done without any fuss, the Acer Aspire Go 15 is the right pick. It’s not the most premium laptop out there, but it works great whether you’re streaming lectures or typing up papers. The hardware is pretty good for the price, too. You get an Intel Core i3 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage, which is plenty for most students. The battery lasts about 12 hours, so you won’t be stuck hunting for an outlet all day. The 15.6-inch screen is actually pretty roomy, so it’s great for cranking out essays or just kicking back with a Netflix show. Acer Aspire Go 15: Further considerations This laptop keeps things simple, and that’s its charm. No touchscreen, no backlit keyboard, and the screen is just okay. But you get good performance, reliable battery life, and a laptop that can handle most college tasks without headaches. Read our full Acer Aspire Go 15 (2024) review Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 – Best Chromebook for students Pros Zippy processor performance Nice keyboard A wide array of connectivity options Chic design Cons Battery life isn’t competitive The display’s 16:9 aspect ratio feels a little cramped Best Prices Today: Who should buy the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34? If you’re heading to college and want a Chromebook that looks good and runs well (as long as you don’t mind Google’s ecosystem), this one’s it. The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 is fast enough to keep up with your daily stuff — think Zoom, Google Docs, Spotify — and it won’t freeze up when you’ve got a bunch of tabs open. (I see you, serial tab opener.) It’s got a 14-inch 1080p screen that looks pretty clear. The webcam’s actually really solid too, so you won’t look like a blurry mess on video calls. And yeah, the whole laptop looks great. It’s got that clean, modern vibe that doesn’t scream budget. Asus Chromebook Plus CX34: Further considerations Now, it’s not perfect. The battery lasts around 13 hours, which is fine, but other laptops in this class go longer. There’s also no touchscreen, so if you’re a big fan of tapping around instead of mousing, you’re out of luck. And if you’re trying to do anything like video editing or heavy design work? This probably isn’t the machine for you. But for school notes, research, and lectures? It’s exactly what you need. Read our full Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 review Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition – Best battery life Pros Over 24 hours of battery life (in our standard test) Solid build quality Snappy desktop performance 2-in-1 experience with pen Cons On the expensive side Lunar Lake’s low multithreaded performance is an issue for some workflows Best Prices Today: Who should buy the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1? If you need a laptop with ridiculously long battery life, the ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 simply blew us away. We got 25 hours on one charge–that’s insane! That’s a full day of study sessions and classes right there. It’s also fairly lightweight at just under 3 pounds so it won’t weigh your backpack down, and the 360-degree hinge lets you use it like a tablet and take handwritten notes. Plus, the keyboard is comfy enough to type on for hours, which is awesome for cranking out papers. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1: Further considerations It’s definitely on the pricey side. Our review model was over $2,000,

Skip to content Image: Ed Oswald/Foundry At a glance Expert’s Rating Pros Excellent navigation and obstacle avoidance, day or night Automatically alternates its cutting direction Capable of handling very large yards Cons Exhibits a tendency for unpredictable behavior on slopes No onboard rain sensor Our Verdict Segway’s all-new Navimow X350 robot lawn mower is a big step up from its earlier Navimow I- and H-series, which remain available. But the manufacturer still doesn’t offer all-wheel drive. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Segway Navimow X350 Segway’s all-new Navimow X3 series of robot lawn mowers boasts enhanced navigation savvy and onboard AI. The Navimow X350 reviewed here is a big step up from the Navimow i110n mower I reviewed in 2024. The Navimow i110n’s navigation was the best in its class at the time, and its cutting performance is fantastic. That said, I found the older mower—which will continue to be available for sale—to be underpowered, and it had an uncanny ability to find its way onto the street during my review period due to its poor cliff detection. Segway has since improved its mowers’ obstruction and hazard detection with firmware updates, but software alone can’t make up for a shortage of power. The Navimow i110n is great for simple yards, but sloped and uneven yards will present it with all but insurmountable problems. The Navimow X350’s ample 10-inch wheelbase and proprietary traction control system help it climb slopes that other mowers, including other Segway models, cannot. The Navimow X3 series changes that equation with far more power. Segway sent us the next-to-the-top-of-the-line model X350, a 1.5-acre mower that retails for $3,499. The entry-level model Navimow X315 has a capacity of 0.5 acres and retails for $2,299, while the model X330 ($2,700) can handle 1.0 acre. The most expensive model, the X390, retails for $4,999 and has a maximum capacity of 2.5 acres. Putting the price in perspective The Segway Navimow X350’s cut quality as good, if not better, than that of the Navimow I- and H-series mowers. Ed Oswald/Foundry Segway’s X3 series of mowers isn’t the successor to its I-series; rather, it’s closer to the H series, which was Segway’s first line of robot mowers launched in Europe back in 2023. Pricing is similar to that line, although with far more capacity and a larger wheelbase. While the X3 series is three times the price of the I series models, it’s just a few hundred dollars more than the H series, with much faster charging times. Depending on the model, the mower can be fully charged from a dead battery in just 60- to 90 minutes; that’s a third of the time it takes to charge H-series mowers. There are also improvements in slope capabilities. Where the I series handles slopes up to 30 percent, the H series can tackle inclines up to 45 percent, the X3s series has a maximum slope ability of 50 percent combined with a traction control feature, which should make slope climbs a little less anxiety-inducing. Navigation has also improved. Segway is sufficiently confident in its AI to enable assisted mapping, and the X3 series detects more than 50 additional obstructions compared to its previous models. One thing that remains missing is all-wheel drive. The X3 doesn’t have that, but its ample wheelbase (10 inches); plus, a proprietary traction control system helps it climb slopes that others, including other Segway models, cannot. Installation and setup The Navimow X-series’ large pixel art-like display seemed like a gimmick at first, but I’ve since discovered how useful it can be. Ed Oswald/Foundry Most RTK/VSLAM-based mowers require a considerable amount of time to assemble the antenna and base station, as those components play a critical role. That’s not the case with the Navimow X350. While there are screws to ensure everything stays together, many parts simply snap into place, and it’s obvious which part goes with which. Thank you, Segway, for making each part a unique shape! Even at 10:00 p.m. (my neighborhood experienced daytime temperatures of 95- to 100 degrees Fahrenheit during this review period), I was able to get everything running in just 30 minutes. In my experience, that’s an exceptionally fast setup time for an antenna-based mower. Mapping should, of course, happen during daylight hours for optimal results. This experience has improved since our last test. With the Navimow i110n, the app controls at the time were far too sensitive, causing the mower to lurch in unexpected directions. We did try the AI-assisted mowing, with mixed results. While it worked perfectly in mapping a boundary on a flat surface, on our sloped yard, it didn’t detect that the slope was far too steep for the mower, causing it to get stuck. We’d recommend using this only in situations where the entire section of yard you’re mowing is generally flat and free of significant obstructions. Performance The Navimow X350 doesn’t waste time mowing your yard. At the standard mowing setting, the mower (at least to me) appeared to move significantly faster across the grass than others I’ve tested. The mower’s large 10-inch cutting radius (two inches wider than the I series, and one inch wider than the H series), delivers a quicker mow without any sacrifice in cut quality that I could see. Robot mowers are notoriously slow and methodical, so this is a welcome improvement. Segway’s latest navigation platform can detect and identify obstructions more quickly than previous versions, thereby enabling it to operate more efficiently. The Navimow X350’s large wheels give it a little more slope capability than your average rear-wheel drive robot mower. Ed Oswald/Foundry The X3 series alternates the direction of cut to prevent tire tracks from appearing in your yard, just as previous models do. Over time, it also optimizes the map it creates, making note of new obstructions and ensuring each section is mowed in the most efficient way possible. You’ll notice this in how the

Marketers and agencies strive to reach captive audiences in ways that enhance, not harm, their experience, but that’s often difficult to achieve. In its modern form, in-flight advertising has emerged as an ideal environment for reaching audiences that are already receptive to messaging. While in-flight advertising isn’t new, the digital nature of watching an ad as a value exchange for free or lower-priced Wifi, for example, isn’t always something today’s marketers consider when putting together their media strategy. As in-flight connectivity becomes a staple across the U.S. and more prevalent worldwide, advertisers have a unique opportunity to reach passengers during their air travel experiences. Commanding attention at 30,000 feet When passengers are using in-flight Wifi, their attention isn’t something that has to be captured — they’re already zoned in. By advertising to these groups, marketers and agencies tap into a very different consumer environment than they’ll get anywhere else. Historically, in-flight advertising required going directly to an airline and essentially using billboard ads — targeting wasn’t available, and these campaigns needed to be set up months in advance. “I think when advertisers think about airline advertising, there’s almost a negative stigma against it,” said Chris Demange, vp, Viasat Ads. “For example, I remember I saw the same ad 15 times on one flight with a particular airline, and I saw the same ad for every flight I took for the next three months. What we’re talking about is completely different — it’s targeted, and we do frequency capping if needed. We can drive value with real-time advertising to consumers that’s very specific within the aircraft when you have that captive audience.” In addition to delivering advertisements in a controlled environment with limited distractions, these ads reach verified passengers, effectively removing any risk of ad fraud and bot traffic frequently encountered in the digital ad space. Advertisers can capitalize on high dwell time during long flights to boost brand recall because this environment isn’t saturated by other ads — and can be quite targeted — so there’s no worry about standing out from the noise that exists in other marketing channels. “When you’re in flight, you’re engaged, and this is one of the few environments where it’s a very captive audience, so when people see an ad, it actually resonates with them as opposed to them being inundated with ads when you’re at home or you’re out and about,” Demange said. Amping up contextual, geo-based targeting to a premium audience With modern in-flight advertising, marketers and agencies can tailor campaigns based on travel routes or go with event-based targeting. For example, a running shoe brand might want to target flights in and out of Boston based on the timing of the Boston Marathon to reach consumers when they’re likely to be most receptive to messaging from such a brand. Rather than targeting an individual passenger, advertisers can focus on broader target audiences and messaging that still uses some level of personalization. This could include targeting flights around events like New York Comic Con or CES and tailoring messaging to fit the people who are likely attending those events. “If your goal is to have a brand awareness campaign targeted toward CES, for example, as soon as someone leaves the plane, they’re going to be inundated with a thousand different brands,” Demange said. “The likelihood that your campaign will resonate with a customer or that they’ll even make a note of it is low — it’s hard to cut through the noise. However, if you pre-prime them as part of a broader campaign strategy with a 15- or 30-second video ad playing while they’re in-flight, you can get your value points out in advance of them arriving at that event. Then they’ll correlate the brand they see on the floor at the trade show with those pre-primed in-flight ads.” While marketers may not have previously thought to explore in-flight advertising, in many ways, it echoes elements of contextual and geo-based targeting tactics, which are already part of the media mix for many marketers and agencies. “That’s essentially what we’re doing,” said Demange. “It’s geographically-based, but it’s the people moving into or leaving that destination, and it’s contextual in that we know the context of this is a traveler, in the traveler mindset — it’s a premium audience, and it’s the perfect time to get them engaged in this type of offering. So, it’s contextual for the traveler, and you’re using that ad and implementing it at a time when they’re receptive without other disruptions. This is the definition of a captive audience that’s fully engaged when they see the ads.” While historically, the notion of in-flight advertising may have primarily consisted of SkyMall brochures, as everything has been digitized, so too has in-flight advertising. From sponsoring Wifi experiences and in-flight audience extensions to ads placed throughout the airline passenger portal, advertisers have several ways they can choose to put their messaging in front of passengers. “The primary ad format that really resonates with advertisers is our sponsored internet or rewarded ads, which is typically where an advertiser will get a 15- to 30-second video ad, followed by a redirection over to the advertiser’s site, where they can then follow up with more information,” said Demange. “The engagement, awareness and value are super high because passengers are watching that ad in exchange for the reward, which is getting full internet or a sponsored session. “That’s the format we think drives the most value for advertisers and the most recognition and ROI. We also do live, in-flight TV ads,” he added. “If people are watching a program on a certain channel, you can reinforce the messaging through live TV ads, and have pre-roll ads in front of movies and TV shows, so all those ad formats can collectively become part of a holistic ad strategy for advertisers.” Because these in-flight ad formats are served in real time, advertisers can see the campaign performance and delivery as it occurs. They can track data they’d

Let’s be honest: the world didn’t need another SSP. The market has been crowded for several years, and while buyers already had a plethora of options, Media.net chose to launch its SSP five years ago. This was not a delay as much as it was a strategic decision to better address marketers’ ongoing challenges, including cluttered supply paths, plateauing performance and a lack of transparency. “Our roundtable session at the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit reaffirmed the same belief that guided us when we launched our SSP: the market didn’t need more of the same — it needed something different,” said Ken Lagana, global Chief Revenue Officer at Media.net. “We weren’t chasing market share; we were building toward a gap we knew we could uniquely fill. “What we’ve learned is that buyers don’t need more noise,” he said. “They need more value, more clarity, more control. Sometimes, launching late is the best way to build something that lasts.” In this Q&A with Lagana, the conversation focuses on the lessons learned that continue to shape Media.net’s SSP and why so many marketers still feel like platforms lack the fundamentals. In a crowded marketplace, what kind of differentiation are marketers looking for from SSPs? Ken Lagana: Differentiation matters more than ever. Most SSPs say the same things: scale, efficiency, transparency. Buyers tune it out. We realized the only way to stand out was to offer something others couldn’t. For us, that meant leveraging our unique contextual and search intent signals — data we’ve been refining for nearly two decades. When layered together, those signals fuel better targeting and stronger performance, even in a post-cookie world. Expanding on that, we tap into live search data and intent signals from across our search engine and publisher partners, allowing marketers to reach audiences based on what they’re actively researching, not just past behaviors. Ultimately, marketers don’t need another access point. They need an edge. That starts with data they can’t get elsewhere. Transparency is a word everyone uses, but what does it really mean to marketers, and how should platforms deliver on it? Ken Lagana: Transparency is non-negotiable, and it needs proof. Today, every SSP claims to be transparent. But marketers want transparency that they can verify. That means no made-for-advertising sites. It means curated supply. It means visibility into how impressions are priced and why they were delivered in the first place. If you can’t show that, you’re just another black box with better branding. We built our SSP with transparency as a default, not an add-on. Buyers can trace outcomes, assess inventory quality and optimize with confidence. That’s not a feature. It’s a baseline expectation. Curation has become a hot topic. What are buyers asking for when they talk about curated supply? Ken Lagana: Curation isn’t a buzzword — it’s survival. The open web has a perception problem, but it’s not inherently broken — it’s just been poorly managed. Marketers tell us they want scale, but they also want control. They don’t want to spray and pray across 20,000 sites. They want curated pathways that align with brand safety, relevance and performance goals. We embraced that tension. Our approach to curation isn’t one-size-fits-all. It flexes based on vertical, audience and campaign strategy because the most valuable inventory differs for every brand. How do SSPs fit into an omnichannel strategy? Ken Lagana: Omnichannel isn’t really optional anymore. A modern SSP has to go beyond display, period. Buyers expect to reach audiences wherever they are — across CTV, digital OOH, mobile, desktop and audio — with unified targeting and reporting. They don’t want to Frankenstein together five separate platforms and pray it works. That’s why we built ours to be omnichannel from the start. When you launch late, you don’t have legacy baggage — you can build for where the market is headed, not where it’s been. Our Deals Desk solution is a good example of that. It allows buyers to quickly activate omnichannel campaigns with the ability to request custom Deal IDs, integrate first- and third-party data, and plug in our contextual search intelligence across channels. That has proven to be really powerful for our customers and partners. There’s been renewed interest in contextual targeting, but how does it deliver performance at scale? Ken Lagana: Contextual plus performance is the future. There was a time when contextual sounded like code for lower performance. That’s not true anymore. For example, a recent DoubleVerify survey of consumers found that 44% have tried a new brand due to seeing a relevant ad alongside a piece of content they were consuming. Similarly, we’ve found that when contextual signals are enhanced with real search intent, they deliver. Marketers see stronger engagement, higher ROI and less reliance on identity-based targeting. That’s a big deal as cookies go away and privacy takes center stage. It’s not either/or. It’s both, and the combination is powerful. How do you see expectations for AI changing, and what role does AI play in your platform? Ken Lagana: AI isn’t magic — it needs to be explainable. AI is everywhere now, and everyone’s claiming it. But most buyers don’t want a mysterious algorithm making decisions behind the scenes. They want to understand why something happened and how they can adjust it. We made explainability a core principle. From optimization logic to inventory scoring, our platform is designed to surface the why behind the outcome. Because trust isn’t earned with buzzwords, it’s earned with clarity. Sponsored by Media.net https://digiday.com/?p=584054 Read More

By Seb Joseph  •  July 24, 2025  • Ivy Liu Google’s AI Overviews — those AI-generative summaries that sit above traditional search results — now reach over 2 billion users every month, up from 1.5 billion just last quarter. It’s the latest sign of how quickly Google is redrawing the map of online discovery — and with it, the economics of who gets traffic and who gets paid. First launched in May 2023, the feature became broadly available to U.S. users a year later. Since then, it’s been expanding globally — and fast. “AI overviews now has over 2 billion monthly users across more than 200 countries and territories and 40 languages,” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday (July 23). Adding half a billion users in a single quarter shows how quickly AI Overviews is becoming a default part of the search experience. For publishers and marketers already seeing a drop in referral traffic, it’s a stark reminder that Google’s shift to AI-driven search is starting to have real business impact.  “We know how popular AI overviews are because they are now driving over 10% more queries globally for the types of queries that show them, and this growth continues to increase over time,” said Pichai. That doesn’t mean AI Overviews account for 10% of all queries — just that, where they appear, people tend to use them more. What that actually means for engagement, satisfaction and revenue is still unclear. Early signs, though, aren’t encouraging for site owners.  When an AI Overview appears, only 8% of searches result in a click, down from 15% when the Overview isn’t shown, according to a recent Pew Research Center study. Clicks on a source link within the AI Overview happened just 1% of the time.  It underscores just how far AI Overviews have already tilted the balance of the open web, with Google being the biggest beneficiary. As Philipp Schindler, Google’s chief business officer, pointed out on the same call: AI Overviews “monetizes at the same rate” as traditional search for Google. For publishers, though, there’s no share in that unless traffic is actually sent their way — which increasingly, it’s not.  That could change. Google has started testing ads within AI Overviews, a move that could eventually pave the way for some kind of revenue-sharing model. It’s also reportedly exploiting licensing deals with select publishers — a sign that even as Google remakes the rules, it may still need to keep parts of the industry on its side.  Not least because regulators are paying close attention.  Next month, a federal judge, who already ruled that Goog;e operates an illegal monopoly in search, could require the company to give publishers and YouTube creators a way to opt out of having their content used to train its AI products. Meanwhile, in Europe, Google is facing an antitrust complaint over AI Overviews, filed by the independent Publishers Alliance. The group claims Google is musing their content in the feature, leading to a measurable drop in traffic, readership and revenue.  Looming behind all of this is a broader fear across the open web: the prospect of “Google Zero” — a future where search drives no traffic at all, just AI answers to the top of Google’s page.  “We’re entering the post-click web: users get answers without needing to visit your site.,” said Sam Hailstone, director of organic performance at Brave Bison. “If the click goes away, then visibility is no longer about position, it’s about presence. SEO must evolve into something closer to entity and authority management.” https://digiday.com/?p=584008 More in Media Read More

This Media Briefing covers the latest in media trends for Digiday+ members and is distributed over email every Thursday at 10 a.m. ET. More from the series → This week’s Media Briefing looks at newly-created, AI-focused executive roles at publications like The Washington Post and Forbes, moves that reflect how news organizations are making the new technology a core part of their business infrastructures. The Washington Post and Forbes are the latest news outlets to elevate executives to AI-focused roles, centralizing oversight of AI strategy and partnerships. Google is looking to sign deals with news publishers for an upcoming AI project, L.A. Times owner wants to take the company public, and more. New executive roles mean AI is no longer a “side experiment” at news publishers Publishers have come a long way since cobbling together task forces to experiment and test AI tools. Now, they’re creating new executive roles and teams to manage AI strategy across their organizations. Last week, Forbes announced a new AI-focused executive and 24-person team. Newly-promoted chief business and strategy officer Kyle Vinansky will oversee a department called the “AI & Strategic Platforms Group.”  In June, Sam Han was promoted to the new role of chief AI officer at The Washington Post, where he now leads AI product development across the company. Meanwhile, Rob Lang was named newsroom AI editor at Reuters, a new role. And in May, Business Insider appointed Julia Hood as its new newsroom AI lead. The first wave of AI roles within newsrooms began in 2023. That was when Zach Seward, formerly EIC at Quartz, was named The New York Times’ newsroom’s editorial director of AI initiatives to oversee AI-related principles, tests and training within the newsroom. Madhumita Murgia became the Financial Times’ first AI editor. The Washington Post’s hiring of a CAIO and Forbes’ expansion of its AI and platforms team both signal a turning point in how publishers view and operationalize AI. Rather than treating it as a series of experiments or newsroom novelties, these moves suggest AI is now seen as core infrastructure, requiring cross-departmental coordination and giving more centralized oversight – a shift that reflects the start of a broader maturation of both the tech itself and publishers strategies around it.  These new executive and leadership roles signal AI technology is “no longer a side experiment or siloed tool — it’s becoming part of the core business infrastructure,” said Sean Puddle, managing director of North America at talent search firm Robert Walters. “This marks a maturing approach to AI, particularly among media companies looking to future-proof their models,” he added. “AI is now viewed as a strategic asset — one that demands ethical leadership, cross-functional integration, and long-term governance.” New titles like CAIO and vp of AI strategy are becoming more common, though the volume “isn’t massive yet,” according to Puddle. Allison Shrivastava, an economist at job search platform Indeed, said job postings that mention generative AI have had “incredible growth,” though they still account for a small share of postings overall.  While Indeed is seeing some expansion into other sectors beyond software developments, Shrivastava believed it will take some time for these job postings to appear widely. “The rise of these roles in recent months indicates not just a technological transition, but a deeper commitment in the industry to reshape how media is produced, distributed, and monetized in the age of generative AI,” Puddle said. By appointing dedicated roles or teams, publishers are creating internal hubs of expertise to guide implementation and serve as resources across the organization, according to Tony Filson, founding partner and CEO of media recruiting firm Filcro Media Staffing. “We’re really putting people in place that are making these resources available to the entire company, every single division,” Filson said. They ensure that the new technology is being integrated throughout an organization. It’s also a marketing tactic, Filson said. It helps publishers look like they are at the forefront of the new AI era. Part of Vinansky’s remit will be to expand existing deals with AI companies, and find new ones, Forbes CEO Sherry Phillips told Digiday. Forbes is one of the 200 publishers that has a deal with Amazon that allows users of its AI smart speaker Alexa to get news and information from those publishers. “What this department will really do is identify, build and scale the next era and the next generation of revenue for Forbes. So it will work in concert across the entire organization, but really focused on both the product side and the business side. This department will really act as the strategic glue,” Phillips said. Publishers started dabbling with generative AI technology in late 2022 and early 2023, just after OpenAI launched ChatGPT. That developed into forming new teams dedicated to overseeing AI initiatives by the spring. These teams were typically cross-functional, with representatives from departments like editorial, business, sales, marketing, engineering, product, HR and legal.  But this approach deepened silos within media organizations, according to Phillips. Forbes had a partnership with an AI tech company (which she declined to name), and its sales team would work with them at the same time as the product team, without realizing either team was communicating with them.  “There does need to be accountability to make sure that we are communicating across some of these larger tech organizations,” Phillips said. Vinansky and his team will be charged with filling some of those gaps, she said. They will also look at revenue opportunities across other platforms, including events, licensing, ecommerce, social media and creators. “Publishers would be derelict in their jobs if they didn’t explore how AI can be incorporated into their organizations,” said Paul Farhi, a Washington Post veteran reporter who covered media. “Having been slow on the uptake in adapting to the internet, then to social media, then to video, [publishers] may have finally learned a lesson when it comes to the alleged ‘Next Big Thing.’” But this formalization is happening alongside a different kind of AI reckoning:

In creator marketing, disclosure has long been treated as optional by some influencers. Now, that loose approach may be catching up with them.  A wave of lawsuits and watchdog scrutiny is digging into undisclosed or poorly labelled posts — and agencies are taking note.  FTC guidelines for sponsored posts have been in place for years, aiming to ensure transparency and protect consumers from misleading advertising. The guidelines were updated in 2023 partly to reflect the rise of creators as key players in digital advertising. They explicitly call out platforms like TikTok and Instagram, where creators have a more informal and direct connection with followers. Failure to disclose paid relationships on these platforms can result in fines of over $50,000 for each individual violation, with the liability largely falling on the advertisers. After updating its guidelines, the FTC sent warning letters in late 2023 and early 2024 to trade groups and influencers over misleading sponsored content. Now, in 2025, watchdogs and litigious consumers are picking up where the agency left off.  Over the past few months, at least six companies, including retailer Revolve, have faced class-action lawsuits seeking millions in damages over undisclosed paid influencer posts. (An FTC representative did not respond to a request for comment.) “If you’re going to advertise for a product, and you’re going to do it in a way that feels organic, you just have to make sure that you are making clear to the consumer that you are being paid to do this,” said Jesse Saivar, an IP lawyer at the firm Greenberg Glusker. “The guidelines have a lot of information, but ultimately, they’re just guidelines to give people a better understanding of how to best make that connection clear.” Due to the widespread nature of creators’ FTC disclosure violations, there are no hard numbers regarding the rise or overall amount of undisclosed brand deals. But both creators and marketers said that they had observed a recent and significant uptick in this activity across both genres and platforms. “The hard part about FTC disclosures is that they can give the impression of brand-deal oversaturation. It’s not always the cleanest look when every few videos carry an ad tag, which can affect how creators are perceived,” said James Brownstein, the founder of the influencer marketing strategy firm Poster Child. “But while the aesthetic might feel damaging, disclosures are actually a sign of a sustainable creator economy. We need more fan communities to rally around content with proper disclosures because brand deals are what keep creators creating.” Why creators are flouting disclosure rules  Creators vary wildly in how transparently they disclose paid partnerships to their audiences. Many creators, such as Culture Crave owner and operator Zach Williamson, want to disclose their partnerships, both to avoid FTC fines and to signal to their audience and other prospective partners that they are open for business. But some creators believe disclosing paid partnerships could hurt their audience image, so they flout the guidelines entirely, according to one influencer marketer familiar with the practice, who spoke to Digiday on background to preserve professional relationships. “The reasoning is that the algorithm punishes the content when it’s disclosed — which is why we just include amplification on everything,” said Danielle Wiley, the CEO of the influencer marketing agency Sway Group, who said that she had required all of her creators to disclose their paid partnerships even before the FTC updated its guidelines. “You just can’t rely on organic, and that’s the name of the game. I don’t think the solution to that is to get around it.” Some creators are skipping FTC-mandated disclosures because they believe labeling posts as paid ads leads to algorithmic suppression by platforms. Talent managers Gaylen Malone and Courtney Bagy Lupilin both said that their creators had started to charge higher rates for sponsored posts on platforms where they’re trying to grow their presence, due to the cooling effect that paid content can have on overall engagement, both sponsored and organic.   “If a creator is like, ‘I would do it, but that TikTok is not going to perform well, and I’ve been working on my TikTok,’ then with that context, I can take it back to the brand and say we’ll have to do a little bit higher of a rate to make it worth it,” Malone said. “Statistically, viewership goes on a decline for even their non-sponsored posts for a period of time afterwards.” Due to the open-ended nature of the FTC’s disclosure guidelines, many creators, such as Culture Crave’s Williamson, have experimented with different language to balance between disclosing and avoiding making paid relationships obvious in a way that turns off viewers. Williamson’s current approach is to denote paid posts by tagging the sponsor alongside a handshake emoji in the copy. “I pitch it to companies who want it undisclosed: ‘What if we do an emoji?’ Williamson said. “And they’re like, ‘that sounds good.’ So, I don’t think it’s a big thing that they’re worried about.” Jeremy Whitt, executive media director at the full-service agency Hanson Dodge, said that he had observed a recent uptick in undisclosed paid posts from creators concerned over disclosures hurting their posts’ performance, but that working with creators who disclosed their deals transparently was a “non-negotiable” for his buyers. “It’s just not worth cutting corners when brand trust and platform integrity are on the line,” he said. We’re not interested in any potential repercussions due to the shared liability the brand has with the creator.” Groundswell of challenges against undisclosed influencer ads  Creator marketing is booming in 2025, with advertisers like Unilever significantly growing their investment. But for those who don’t adhere to transparent disclosure guidelines, scrutiny is tightening.  On July 17, for example, soap company Dr. Squatch discontinued some of its paid creator posts on TikTok after a challenge by BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division showed that the company was offering creators incentives and additional rewards beyond standard affiliate links, which sponsored creators were not disclosing in their paid posts. National Advertising

Bruno Coelho – stock.adobe.com US AI Action Plan sets out plans to expand American dominance in the world of artificial intelligence By Alex Scroxton, Security Editor Published: 24 Jul 2025 18:57 The United States government this week unveiled its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan, stating in no uncertain terms that the current administration of president Trump believes it is in a race to achieve unchallengeable and unquestionable worldwide dominance in the field. Describing the AI-driven future as a potential  ‘golden age of human flourishing’, Washington said that whichever country emerges with the largest AI ecosystem will reap the rewards of being able to set global standards, not to mention economic and military benefits. Just as the US won the race to put man on the Moon, 56 years-ago this month, it said it was ‘imperative’ that America and her allies prevail again. “A new frontier of scientific discovery lies before us, defined by transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence… Breakthroughs in these fields have the potential to reshape the global balance of power, spark entirely new industries, and revolutionise the way we live and work,” said the president in the report’s preamble. “As our global competitors race to exploit these technologies, it is a national security imperative for the United States to achieve and maintain unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance. To secure our future, we must harness the full power of American innovation.” The new plan centres on a three pillar strategy: to accelerate AI innovation, to build out US AI infrastructure, and to lead on international AI diplomacy and security. Red tape To support the first of these pillars, the US will seek to remove red tape that the government believes is holding back the private sector. Trump has already made some moves in this regard, including rescinding a previous Executive Order (EO) issued by former president Biden in 2023 – which attempted to set standards for AI safety and security, protect privacy, and spur responsible development. The new administration believes Biden’s EO ‘foreshadowed an onerous regulatory regime’ and many of the actions laid out in the Plan this week reflect a general trend of unpicking Biden’s legacy. It also sets out actions to encourage the use of open source and open weight AI models, enable adoption in critical sectors such as healthcare, empower initiatives to expand AI-enabled education and prepare the workforce for its impact, among other things. On the second pillar, the AI Action Plan proposes a number of actions including streamlining the planning and building processes governing datacentre and chip fabrication factilities, as well as expanding and protecting the vast energy infrastructure that will be needed to run AI models. On the third pillar, it sets out plans to export the full AI technology stack to other countries, lest they turn to rival states such as China. On China specifically, the Plan lays down initiatives to counter China’s influence on international governance bodies. Also contained within the AI Action Plan are provisions for more AI-focused cyber initiatives including the potential creation of an AI-specific information and analysis centre (ISAC) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and plans to do more to counter AI model vulnerabilities and fight back against malicious use of AI by threat actors. No ‘woke’ AI in DC Alongside the AI Action Plan and in keeping with its disavowment of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the Trump administration also launched a broadside against so-called ‘woke’ AI. The text of an additional EO signed on 23 July by Trump says large language models (LLMs) should be neutral and nonpartisan tools “that do not manipulate responses in favour of ideological dogmas such as DEI”. The EO says that in an AI context, this could mean targeting topics such as representation of ethnic or sexual minorities, critical race theory, discrimination on the basis of race or sex, intersectionality, transgender rights and unconscious bias. The EO’s guidance applies to models used within the federal government but will likely have ramifications beyond it. Broadly supportive Matt Mitteldteadt, research fellow at Washington DC-based libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, was broadly supportive of the Action Plan’s aims. “On the positive end, the order includes a much-needed emphasis on the importance of innovation, notably the forthcoming effort to analyse federal rules to identify onerous regulations. Also notable is the renewed emphasis on open source and related efforts to enable open source developers,” he said. “The stated emphasis on AI diplomacy could be essential as America’s AI success depends on foreign market access. Finally, the elevated emphasis on cyber security -and specifically enabling cyber defence – is matched to the current state of risk.” However, he pointed out some sticking points, notably the use of government procurement power to shape model output along ideological lines. “Not only is ‘objectivity’ elusive philosophically, but efforts to technically contain perceived bias have yet to work,” said Mittelstaedt. “This is also a mistake from a competitiveness standpoint. If this policy successfully shapes American models, we will lose international customers who won’t want models shaped by a foreign government’s whims.” Read more on Datacentre backup power and power distribution White House AI plan places scrutiny on state AI laws By: Makenzie Holland Health AI industry left to self-regulate as feds change course By: Anuja Vaidya 7 U.S. tech policies to watch in 2025 By: Madeleine Streets Explore the role of AI in the U.S. federal government By: Olivia Wisbey Read More

Afiq Sam – stock.adobe.com Microsoft’s security analysts confirm a number of cyber attacks on on-premise SharePoint Server users involve ransomware By Alex Scroxton, Security Editor Published: 24 Jul 2025 17:28 Multiple organisations have now been hit by Warlock ransomware deployed on their systems via the dangerous ToolShell vulnerability chain in Microsoft SharePoint Server, Microsoft has revealed. Earlier this week, Microsoft said that known Chinese state threat actors, Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, were among those exploiting two security bypass vulnerabilities – CVE-2025-53770, which bypasses a remote code execution (RCE) flaw tracked as CVE-2025-49704, and CVE-2025-53771, which bypasses a spoofing flaw, CVE-2025-49706. It also tentatively attributed some activity to an as-yet unclassified threat actor, Storm-2603, noting that this group had demonstrated some ties to ransomware gangs such as LockBit in the past. Having firmed up a link to Warlock, Microsoft has now updated information on attribution, indicators of compromise (IoCs), mitigation and protection guidance, and detection and threat hunting. As of 23 July, data sourced from the Shadowserver Foundation suggests close to 600 SharePoint instances are exposed to the web in the UK – the global figure is closer to 11,000. Worldwide, the organisation said that about 424 of the total remained vulnerable to CVE-2025-53770 and CVE-2025-53771 as of 23 July. About a quarter of these instances are located in the US. In a statement, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said: “Microsoft and the NCSC are aware that an exploit for this vulnerability exists in the wild and have observed active attacks targeting on-premises SharePoint Server customers, including a limited number in the UK.” At the time of writing, no ToolShell victims in the UK have been publicly named. In the US, according to Bloomberg – which cited sources familiar with the incident – the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is among those to have fallen victim. The NNSA’s core mission is to assure the safe maintenance and management of US nuclear weapons. Confirmed by the Department of Energy, which it ultimately sits within, the NNSA was described as “minimally impacted” by the attack. The agency said that other US federal and state bodies, and governments in Europe and the Middle East, had likely been affected, while the Washington Post has added the National Institute of Health (NIH) to the list. SharePoint users left completely exposed Kevin Robertson, chief technology officer at managed detection and response (MDR) specialist Acumen Cyber, said the failure of the first patches for CVE-2025-49704 and CVE-2025-29706 to fully address the earlier issues – both addressed in the July 2025 Patch Tuesday drop – had left organisations completely exposed. “The attackers turning to ransomware are clearly taking advantage of CVE 2025-53770 to gain further access to environments, encrypting sensitive information, before executing ransomware hoping to get a big paycheck,” said Robertson. “This highlights that it’s not just state-sponsored threat actors benefiting from this dangerous vulnerability. Money-motivated attackers are also jumping on the bandwagon. ” However, some state-sponsored attackers will also be using ransomware. They could be conducting reconnaissance on networks and then, when they have what they need, dropping ransomware to cause further chaos for victims. “While we now have data saying 400 victims have been compromised, this could be a drop in the ocean in comparison with the reality. Furthermore, not all organisations will have been able to apply the patch yet, meaning their environments are still wide open,” he added. Read more on Data breach incident management and recovery Microsoft confirms China link to SharePoint hacks By: Alex Scroxton Microsoft issues emergency patch for SharePoint vulnerability By: Jill McKeon Chinese cyber spies among those linked to SharePoint attacks By: Alex Scroxton Patch ToolShell SharePoint zero-day immediately, says Microsoft By: Alex Scroxton Read More