SODP Dispatch - 22 January 2026

REMP by Fatchilli 2026 Review

By Sreemoyee Bhattacharya

Turning anonymous website visitors into actual paying subscribers is a daily challenge – you need to have a good understanding of who your readers are and how they interact with your content. But the reality is, most publishers are struggling with this – just 23% of visitors even get offered a subscription. The conversion rate to paid subscribers, according to a benchmark, is a low 0.003% of all visitors, which goes to show how hard it is to make any decent money from audiences without a much deeper understanding of what makes them tick.

Data getting stuck in silos, conversion funnels getting all disjointed and tools that are about as flexible as a brick wall – all this makes it even harder for publishers to get the insights they need to optimize the reader experience and build genuine loyalty. To help tackle these problems, the Denník N tech team got to work on REMP (Reader Engagement and Monetization Platform). This open-source platform brings much-needed structure and common sense to subscription-driven publishing. By bringing all the key bits together – audience insights, engagement tracking, and subscription management – into one tidy system, REMP helps publishers get a handle on reader behavior, refine their user journeys, and – most importantly – build a loyal readership..

📊 The 2025 Web Almanac

The web doesn't stand still and neither does the data that tracks it. The HTTP Archive's 2025 Web Almanac is here: the most comprehensive snapshot of how the web actually works, built from 16.2 million websites and 244 terabytes of real-world data.

This isn't speculation or trend-chasing. It's 15 chapters covering page content, user experience, publishing, and distribution, written by 70 web experts who volunteered countless hours to make sense of what's really happening across the internet.

Whether you're optimizing performance, rethinking your CMS strategy, or trying to understand how content gets discovered in 2025, this is the report that connects raw stats to real insight. The kind of clarity you can actually build a strategy around.

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📊 Exclusive Offer for SODP Readers: Phuket Summit 2026

Your ticket to Phuket Summit 2026 just got sweeter! Our friend Ashish, founder of Phuket Summit, is rolling out the red carpet for our community with an exclusive offer you won't want to miss.

🎟️ The Deal:

• 10% OFF all tickets AND sponsorship packages

• Simply use code: SODP10 at checkout

Whether you're grabbing an early bird ticket, VIP pass, or exploring sponsorship opportunities, this discount applies across the board!

This is your chance to connect with industry leaders, gain fresh insights, and network in one of the world's most stunning locations, all while saving on your investment. Don't let this opportunity slip away!

P.S. Remember to enter SODP10 before completing your purchase to unlock your 10% discount.

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By Vahe Arabian

🤖 How AI will change content monetization in 2026

The publishing landscape is evolving rapidly. Here are my top predictions for this new year, and how publishers can adjust to the shift:

1. SEO + AI Search: A Unified Approach The NFL’s use of agentic AI in 2025 shows how AI systems can interpret and deliver content rapidly and intelligently, offering a glimpse into the future of AI-assisted content discovery. Publishers who integrate Agentic AI into their workflows now will have a competitive edge in 2026.

2. Optimizing Paywall Content with LLMs: LLMs will revolutionize paywalled content by enabling dynamic adjustments based on user intent. AI-generated previews and targeted access models will balance visibility with monetization, driving subscriptions while optimizing for AI search.

3. SEO Beyond Traditional Search Engines: Social media, newsletters, and apps are now search-driven and indexable. With Facebook content discoverable on Google, optimizing for social SEO and Google Discover is critical for expanding reach and brand visibility.

4. Personalization and 'Top Stories': Google's 'Top Stories' and AI-curated results will prioritize user preferences and history. Create engaging, adaptive content that speaks to individual interests to build loyalty and increase brand search.

5. Content Creation with MCP Connectors & CMS Platforms: MCP connectors and advanced CMS platforms will standardize multi-channel distribution. Publishers who adopt these tools will lead in making content discoverable and engaging across all touchpoints.

What's next this year?

• Integrate SEO and AI optimization

• Experiment with AI-powered paywall strategies

• Expand SEO to social and non-traditional channels

• Embrace personalization

• Streamline workflows with modern tools

Media’s to-do list for 2026 looks more daunting than ever | The Irish Times

Every year the Reuters Institute produces its state-of-the-industry report on global journalism and technology trends. For a long time now these reports have painted a picture of a global media industry beset by threats and facing hard choices. This one is no different. If anything, the 2026 version is even more downbeat than some of its predecessors. Media executives are generally pessimistic about the future for the industry as a whole, although they tend to be more hopeful about their own companies’ chances of survival and success.

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Misunderstandings Over AI Use Fuel Confusion Around WordPress.org Plugin Reviews | The Repository

Concerns about how the WordPress Plugins Team uses AI surfaced last week after a Reddit post claimed that “AI-curated” review scanners were blocking legitimate plugins — a claim the team says reflects a misunderstanding of how reviews actually work. The Reddit post, published on January 6 by Zologic founder Almin Zolotic, described what he called a “loop of death” with the WordPress.org plugin review process. Zolotic said he was asked to rewrite modern security logic into older patterns to satisfy automated checks, only to find that those changes broke the core functionality of his plugin.

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Five US publishers sue Google over ‘deceptive and manipulative’ adtech practices | PressGazette

Five major US publishers have filed lawsuits against Google claiming its “deceptive and manipulative” adtech practices seriously limited their potential revenue. Rolling Stone owner Penske Media Corporation (plus its subsidiary She Media), Conde Nast owner Advance Publications, The Verge owner Vox Media, local newspaper giant McClatchy, and The Atlantic have all filed cases against Google in the past week. The actions come after the US Justice Department successfully sued Google for violating antitrust law by monopolising digital advertising markets, harming “Google’s publishing customers” as well as consumers. .

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YouTube & BBC Confirm Watershed Content Deal | Deadline

YouTube and the BBC have confirmed plans to deepen their ties, with the UK national broadcaster committing to creating original content for the Google-owned platform. Under the landmark agreement, first reported last week, the BBC will create new YouTube channels, showcase content like the Winter Olympics, and launch a creator skills and training initiative. The joint YouTube and BBC announcement did not disclose any details about the commercial arrangement underpinning the deal.

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Why LLM-only pages aren’t the answer to AI search | Search Engine Land

With new updates in the search world stacking up in 2026, content teams are trying a new strategy to rank: LLM pages. They’re building pages that no human will ever see: markdown files, stripped-down JSON feeds, and entire /ai/ versions of their articles. The logic seems sound: if you make content easier for AI to parse, you’ll get more citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews. Strip out the ads. Remove the navigation. Serve bots pure, clean text. Industry experts such as Malte Landwehr have documented sites creating .md copies of every article or adding llms.txt files to guide AI crawlers.

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