Mediagazer: How the rise in the US of Japanese news aggregator SmartNews, valued at $2B in 2021, came to a halt in 2023, leading to CEO Ken Suzuki's departure in November (Andrew Deck/Rest of World)

Some publishers estimate that Google's Search Generative Experience will cut referral traffic by 20% to 40% if the final version works like current iterations — Tech giant's AI-powered search product is being tested on roughly 10 million users; publishers rely on Google for traffic and see a gathering storm

Discussion: Digital Content Next

Dan Primack / Axios:

Vivendi says it is weighing splitting into three businesses: TV platform Canal+, ad agency Havas, and an investment firm that will include publisher Lagardère — French media and entertainment group Vivendi said that it's weighing a split into three separate businesses.

Discussion: Broadband TV News, Reuters and Wall Street Journal

Umar Shakir / The Verge:

Google plans to start testing Tracking Protection on January 4 on ~1% of global Chrome users to block third-party cookies, ahead of a phased rollout in H2 2024 — Google is about to launch its grand plan to block third-party cookies in Chrome that many websites use to track your activity across the web for profit.

Discussion: AdExchanger, The Keyword and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Film discussion and review app Letterboxd adds showtimes for paying members in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and more, using aggregator Assemble's data — The film discussion and discovery platform wants users to see movies after reading about them. — Since its founding in 2011 …

Discussion: Letterboxd and Variety

James Bennet / The Economist:

Ex-NYT editor James Bennet chronicles how fewer jobs for young reporters, the NYT's business model, and new ideals have led to “illiberal bias” at the paper — America's media should do more to equip readers to think for themselves — Are we truly so precious?

Discussion: @poniewozik@threads.net, @lugaricano, @karaswisher@threads.net, @benklinepoet, @dicktofel, @lionelbarber, @emilyctamkin, @charlesornstein, @schreckreports, @codendahl, @shashj, @mrianleslie, @asymmetricinfo and @bigmeaninternet

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:

A Pew survey of US adults finds that ~38% support a federal TikTok ban, down from 50% in March 2023; Republicans' rate of support for a ban fell from 60% to 50% — A new Pew survey suggests that the Republican-led push to ban the app will face a huge challenge in persuading voters, many of whom use the app themselves.

Discussion: Vox, Fox Business, Pew Research Center, The Hill, New York Times, Associated Press and Tubefilter

Lili Bayer / The Guardian:

Ten Hungarian media outlets warn a new law creating a Sovereignty Protection Authority with broad investigatory power could “severely restrict” press freedom — Sovereignty protection office created with powers to investigate anyone active in public life

Discussion: Associated Press and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Punchbowl News buys legislation data company Electo Analytics, sources say in a deal valuing Punchbowl at $100M+, and plans to raise its price by $50 in January — The congressional news start-up is doubling down on information for its audience of Capitol Hill obsessives.

Andrew Deck / Rest of World:

How the rise in the US of Japanese news aggregator SmartNews, valued at $2B in 2021, came to a halt in 2023, leading to CEO Ken Suzuki's departure in November — Former SmartNews employees point to failed product launches and far-right obsession of former CEO.

Discussion: @restofworld and @restofworld@threads.net, more at Techmeme »

Emma Roth / The Verge:

Twitch now allows some previously prohibited sexual content, including “deliberately highlighted breasts, buttocks or pelvic region”, with a sexual themes label — Twitch is updating the way it responds to sexual content. As part of the change, the streaming platform will now allow …

Discussion: Music Ally, UPROXX, Dexerto, @arilovetv, @faaairlydecent, @infernoomni, @madkurious, @alexia_moi_voss, @keyokku, @twitch, Engadget, Dexerto, TweakTown, Dexerto, Dexerto, TechCrunch, Dot Esports, The Messenger, Variety, Boing Boing and Know Your Meme, more at Techmeme »

Luke Bouma / Cord Cutters News:

WBD's ad-free tier of Max is now available via a $15.99 subscription through YouTube's Primetime Channels in the US and includes access to CNN Max — Today, Warner Bros. Discovery and YouTube announced that the ad-free tier of Max is now available on Primetime Channels in the U.S. With this news …

Discussion: Marina Abayev on LinkedIn, Jill Stephenson on LinkedIn, TechRadar, Digital Trends and Next TV

Malak Saleh / Engadget:

Meta is working to extend its fact-checking to Threads in early 2024; ratings currently only appear on Threads content with matching Facebook or Instagram posts — The program will roll out next year, according to executives. — Threads is going to make an effort to moderate more of the user-generated content on the platform.

Discussion: Gizmodo, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, Bloomberg, The Verge, Interhacktives, MediaPost, TechCrunch, Social Media Today and @mosseri@threads.net, more at Techmeme »