Once again, out of nowhere, the open web is getting back on the roller coaster of Google core updates with the May 2026 core update. As usual, we do not know what it consists of or anything else. We only know that we must pray that our beloved monopoly does its job well and truly prioritizes quality and not itself (YouTube, for example) even more.
(more…)GfK DAM data on AI in Spain shows a bleak future for the open web
GfK DAM, the measurement provider recommended by the industry, invited a group of journalists to review the impact of generative AI and chatbots in Spain using data from its digital measurement. The data could not be clearer and shows that users still want to stay informed, but not so much through the media outlets themselves. And unfortunately, the bad news does not end here…
(more…)Condé Nast works as if Google traffic did not exist and this is the way
Google arrived with very good intentions, don’t be evil and all the rest and we swallowed it. It was a matter of going public and all those intentions dissolved like a sugar cube. Since then, we have lived at the mercy of Core Updates like someone watching a roller coaster, hoping that Google will finally do its job properly and genuinely prioritize quality. In the end, this never happens.
(more…)AI Overviews are unbearable
I have spent some time denouncing Google’s excesses in Google Search, specifically those created with AI Overviews, which are already causing so many layoffs and media outlet closures all over the world. It is obvious to everyone that Google is a de facto monopoly that finally has a decent competitor (OpenAI and Anthropic afterwards) and perhaps that is why it is acting in a rather reprehensible way. In this context, I sometimes come across some AI Overviews that are quite outrageous.
(more…)Free Google Ads credit, why you shouldn’t use it
A new wave of free credit to invest in Google Ads is arriving in email inboxes and I think it’s good to quickly clarify why you shouldn’t use it, especially if you don’t really know what you’re doing. This will be the usual thing, since it’s credit for new accounts, especially aimed at beginners. There are plenty of reasons:
(more…)The best free paywall for your digital newspaper
If you are looking for how to bypass this or that newspaper’s paywall, you can go back the way you came, because this article is not about that, but about how to enable or create a free paywall for a digital newspaper, and which is the best one if you have hardly any budget (for big media outlets and press organizations there are several paid options available with different prices).
(more…)Google’s decisions start to have consequences for CMS and DXP companies
Google’s latest decisions, given its de facto monopoly position in many digital domains, are starting to have consequences. The situation, in general, in the world of journalism at major outlets, with a few exceptions, is one of depression and weariness after the arrival of AI Overviews, the growing prominence of AI Mode, changes in Google Discover and the latest Google update, which has once again reduced traffic for many outlets in Google Search.
(more…)This is exactly how Google Discover works
According to the SEO Director of the British newspaper The Telegraph, Harry Clarkson-Bennett, based on his own experience and the leaks that have occurred on the subject, this is exactly how Google works…
(more…)AInnovación 2025, a successful event that Google failed to overshadow
AInnovación 2025 took place the 24th of September, the great celebration of artificial intelligence (AI) and content that CMS MAG organizes every year. If last year’s edition was a discovery for many, this edition has been the moment of consolidation despite the bad luck that Google, despite having an office in Spain since 2003 (according to what I checked in chatGPT), waited until 2025 to hold its first Publisher Day in Spain, among other events that directly competed with those showcased at AInnovación 2025.
(more…)AI bot managers, the new trend inside CMS
Bots, the share of Internet traffic generated by machines rather than humans, have become a huge problem, largely driven by the rise of web scraping, a technique aimed at extracting information from websites in an automated way. In recent times it has grown considerably thanks to the spread of generative AI companies, so the question is what to do about it.
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