Breaking Free from Stockholm Syndrome: How Publishers Can Escape Big Tech’s Grip

There is no question that referral traffic to publishers is decreasing from social channels and from Search Engine Results Pages (SERP). The reasons have everything to do with the profit motive. Every user that a social media company refers away, only hurts their bottom line.?

Here is an Echobox graph of the decline of referral data from social media to third party sites over the past year and a half. It paints a grim picture that we believe will only get worse.

Digital Content Next (DCN) published this chart which shows that most of their publishers saw a 1-20% drop in 2023. Note we can probably assume that these are premium pubs.?

So how did publishers get here?

Early on, social media companies needed publishers and their content to prosper. They promoted publishers to bring their content to their networks and even paid them in some cases. Over time, they realized that they could have more sway over creators and get them to agree to their terms and play by their rules, shifting their focus away from publishers.

In recent years, platforms like Snap and TikTok have changed the game with algorithmic video engagement that isn't dependent on users' social networks. Other platforms are successfully catching up, building products that keep users in addictive scrolling loops, capturing as much disposable media time as possible. They know that if they lose a user to a third-party site, the revenue spigot turns off.

On the search side, OpenAI and Anthropic's “answer engines” have disrupted Google's “search engines.” Google is now trying to pivot to an answer engine model without triggering regulatory action. As someone who ran an SEO and Search Engine agency, I saw when Google stopped sharing referring organic keyword data under the guise of privacy. You could still get referral data if you bought Google ads, requiring significant spending to figure out effective referral keywords. This move foreshadows Google's future strategies. Google will gradually shift their business model, focusing on their ad revenue growth while boiling publishers like a frog with less referrals.

What should publishers do next?

Most publishers are expecting a continued decline in referrals per DCN. Mostly coming from Meta, Google and Tiktok.

With such a grim prognosis, what are publishers doing in response? DCN’s survey indicates they are doubling down on social media content to escape being starved by these platforms. If that isn't Stockholm syndrome, I don't know what is.

What is surprising is the lack of priority publishers are putting on the one thing that releases them from their slave-master relationship with big tech: building more high-quality first-party relationships.

Building these relationships is hard and very necessary work. If publishers depend on big tech algorithms to support their business growth, they will eventually be very disappointed. History has proven this repeatedly.

But there is reason to be optimistic. The world will always need high-quality content. AI will need high-quality content. Content will always reign supreme. Publishers need to reassert themselves, do the hard work, and find their power.

What is the hard work? Building quality content and user experiences that delight and engage their users. Removing ad-cluttered pages and seeking out fewer, more impactful adtech partners. Creating real reasons and rewards for users to build relationships with their sites.

Bonbon is a key partner for publishers in this difficult business migration. We provide publishers with a compelling value exchange for their users to register and build long-term relationships. We help publishers find and reward the most engaging activities on their sites. All the while, we put the needs of publishers first while building real consumer trust.

Authored by Elliott Easterling: Bonbon's Founder, CEO and Chief Confectioner. He lives in LA with his wife, 2 sons and 5 surfboards.