Raptive

We're back in Vail for the Digiday Publishing Summit! Our team is there connecting with old friends, meeting new ones, and diving into the big shifts in publishing. Yesterday our Chief Innovation Officer Marc McCollum took the stage to unpack why mid-market publishers are feeling the squeeze—and why it’s only getting tighter. He shared strategies to help publishers stay competitive in a world of programmatic direct, identity shifts, and consolidation. And of course, our mobile drink cart was on hand, serving up bubbles and brews along with fresh insights. Missed the session or want to learn more? Let’s chat! We’d love to connect. #Digiday #DPS

When Heather Armstrong launched her blog Dooce in 2001, the experiences of motherhood—the actual experiences of motherhood, not the glowing version promoted through commercials, Hollywood, and magazines—were relegated to quiet whispers at the back of children’s parties or not spoken about at all. Armstrong changed everything. Her profoundly personal writing about her life as a mother tackled then-taboo subjects like postpartum depression and alcoholism. Armstrong's mix of vulnerable and funny broke the silence around issues many mothers faced and offered solace to countless readers who saw their struggles reflected in her words. In short, she took women and their experiences seriously. At its peak, Dooce attracted over eight million monthly visitors. It generated significant advertising revenue and earned her recognition as one of Forbes’ 2009 "Most Influential Women in Media.” She went on to become a bestselling author, and many of the subjects she covered throughout her career are now part of the public and professional dialogue around motherhood—a direct result of Armstrong’s decision to make the personal public. Heather Armstrong passed away in 2023, and her legacy lives on in every honest blog post and vulnerable social caption shared by mothers who no longer feel the need to whisper.

Today we're continuing our series "Women who built the web" with the inimitable Anna Holmes. Before Anna Holmes was hired to launch Jezebel in 2007,? women largely found their lives reflected in the extremely glossy pages of women’s magazines—whether they wanted to or not. Jezebel changed all that and then some. From the start, Holmes applied her own experience from magazines such as Entertainment Weekly and Glamour. With the tagline "Celebrity. Sex. Fashion. Without airbrushing,” Jezebel promptly dismantled the mainstream beauty and fashion industry, inviting readers to question societal norms and expectations. In doing so, the site created a new way to not just talk about women, but exist as a woman on the internet. Readers could not get enough. Six months after launch, Jezebel was generating 10 million monthly pageviews. Blending humor, sharp critique, and unapologetic commentary, Holmes helped foster a space that was not just inclusive and empowering but fun—and more than a little bit feared. Emma Goldberg of The New York Times described the site's hallmark as "feminist cultural criticism, with an edge.” Since leaving Jezebel in 2010, Holmes has gone on to write for publications like The New Yorker, oversee podcasts for the Obamas' Higher Ground, and author a column for the New York Times. As for the rest of us, we’re speaking the language of the women she ushered into being.

Next up in our "Women who built the web" series: Kara Swisher Very few people can speak truth to power, report on the power, and also *be* the power. And yet, that’s the unique trifecta journalist Kara Swisher has managed to carve out. In each step of her decades-long career, she's combined the entrepreneur's mindset with the chops of a no-apologies, powerhouse investigative journalist. Swisher began covering tech in the 90s after studying misinformation and propaganda and doing a turn at the The Washington Post’s Style Desk. She moved to the The Wall Street Journal, where she launched the influential AllThingsD conference with Walt Mossberg, before spinning it off into the Recode website and conference, which was acquired by Vox. She did a turn at The New York Times as an opinion columnist, launching the podcast Sway, which focused on power, before returning to Vox as an editor at large for New York Magazine, where she hosts two podcasts, On with Kara Swisher and Pivot. Never one to shy away from holding the most powerful figures accountable, Swisher has shaped how we think about the ethics of technology and the intersection of innovation, power, and society. Along with being a relentless advocate for gender equality, she has spent her career pushing for transparency, privacy, and accountability in tech companies—no holds barred.

For Women’s History Month, we’re shining a light on the brilliant minds who helped shape the internet but don’t always get the recognition they deserve. Their work laid the foundation for so much of what we rely on today—often behind the scenes, but with a lasting impact. Our new series, "Women who built the web," is all about celebrating their contributions and sharing their stories. We're starting the series with media icon Laurel Touby! Before Laurel Touby arrived on the scene in the late nineties, there were very few avenues available to those who wanted in to the very lucrative, influential, and glamorous media business. It was all a bit opaque outside the Ivy League alumni connection system, and Touby changed that with Mediabistro. Mediabistro began as a series of cocktail parties hosted by a boa-wearing Touby for media professionals and job seekers. A few years later, after navigating start-up challenges and the internet crash, Touby transformed the events into a job listing and classified site, a one-stop-shop to see what was out there. She broadened out to offer classes like essay writing and how to pitch. The site soon moved into journalism, launching FishbowlNY to cover the media scene in New York at a time when it was the power scene—followed by TVNewser, FishbowlDC , and GalleyCat, which focused on book publishing. Along the way, she helped launch the careers of journalists like Brian Stelter, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Garrett M. Graff, and Rachel Sklar. In July 2007, Touby sold the business for $23M...cash. Yet this massive sale by any metric only merited a small mention in The New York Times. Big mistake, huge? Now, of course, we live in a world fueled by community and the understanding that networking and collaboration are the paths to success. One might say we’re all living in Laurel’s world.

Creators and publishers love the Raptive dashboard because it gives them the data they need to take action. And with a creator leading the way, the dashboard will only keep getting better! Meet Megan Tenney, Product Manager, Raptive Dashboard. As a creator herself, Megan has a vested interest in making the dashboard awesome. She told us how her insights help shape the dashboard, what makes Raptive a great place to work, and how her incredible family journey inspires her travel blog. https://lnkd.in/ei7yyJ_2

Tomorrow is the deadline for public comment on the WH request for Americans to share their policy ideas for the AI Action Plan. Many of the top tech firms have weighed in -- one example is OpenAI, which said (I'm paraphrasing) that if they cannot continue to violate copyright, their business cannot continue. In other words, stealing copyrighted content is a matter of national security... I have a different take -- here is what I submitted: The rapid advancement of generative AI technology poses significant risks to over 100,000 independent content creators—small business owners who embody the entrepreneurial spirit of our nation. These creators rely on open access to digital audiences for their livelihoods, and the shift toward AI-driven content delivery threatens to disrupt their revenue streams, dilute intellectual property rights, and undermine the open web. America's AI policies can and must ensure that AI innovation continues to flourish without compromising the interests of small business owners and independent voices. Thoughtful policy action can help protect small businesses, promote fair competition, and ensure that technological innovation continues to flourish without undermining the livelihoods of hardworking Americans: Protect Small Businesses from Tech Monopolies: Tech giants like Google leverage AI to consolidate control over content distribution. Their AI Overviews transform search results into comprehensive answers that keep users within their ecosystem, bypassing independent creators' websites. This practice undermines the revenue streams of small business owners who rely on website traffic, threatening their livelihoods. By addressing these monopolistic practices, OSTP can protect small businesses, demonstrating your unwavering commitment to fair competition and the free market—principles that resonate deeply with the American people. Ensuring Ethical Use of AI in Search Engines AI-generated summaries in search results provide information without directing users to the original content sources, diminishing creators' control over their work and potentially misrepresenting it. Reduced traffic and engagement undermine their ability to monetize content and maintain their businesses. Addressing this concern showcases our government's dedication to ethical technology use and supports the rights of content creators, reinforcing America's moral leadership on the global stage. Upholding Intellectual Property and Revenue Protections Without proper safeguards, AI tools can use creators' intellectual property without consent or compensation, undermining their rights. This exploitation threatens the economic models that support creativity and entrepreneurship. Protecting intellectual property rights aligns with a commitment to the rule of law and supports the economic interests of small businesses across the nation.

It’s been almost a year since Google rolled out its AI-generated search feature AI Overviews, and publishers still know very little about how it’s impacting their referral traffic. Last week Google?introduced?AI Mode, an experimental feature for search, which lets users ask follow-up questions without leaving the page, as part of an?overall AI Overviews update, which will now be powered by its Gemini 2.0 AI model. AI Overviews, which provides generated summaries of information from multiple sources to answer a user’s search query, will also be available to more people, including teens and users not signed into Google accounts. AI Mode, which resembles the same kind of experience provided by Perplexity or ChatGPT Search, is only being made available to Google AI One Premium subscribers. In this piece by Sara Guaglione, we speak to Paul Bannister of Raptive, and Josh Jaffe.

?? Make your voice heard on AI policy! The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has asked for input on their AI Action Plan, and independent creators and publishers should be part of the conversation. We need policies that protect intellectual property, promote fair compensation, and support ethical AI development—but that won’t happen unless we speak up! We’ve submitted a detailed response on your behalf, and you can also submit an individual comment. Right now fewer than 500 comments have been submitted. We’d love to drive that number up before submissions close tomorrow—let’s make our voices impossible to ignore! Help shape the future of AI policy by submitting your own comment to the OSTP highlighting key concerns like: - Intellectual property rights - Fair use - Ethical AI development - Impact of AI on creative industries Every voice counts. The OSTP is accepting comments through?tomorrow, Saturday, March 15:?https://lnkd.in/evn88Kp4

Still feeling the glow of the Miami sun and the incredible experience last week at the Raptive Publishing Leaders Retreat! ?? Two unforgettable days of collaborating with an amazing group of publishers and partners, diving deep into the industry's biggest challenges—traffic diversification, AI, identity, privacy, performance strategies, email, and more. Beyond business, we enjoyed the stunning coastal views, caught a Miami Heat game, and built meaningful connections. Already looking forward to October's retreat! Who's joining us?