Referral traffic is drying up, and for local news publishers, the impact is inescapable.
AI-generated answers are replacing clicks, pushing links further down the page or removing the need to visit a site altogether. The trend accelerated traffic downturns caused by social platforms locking engagement inside their walled gardens.
For smaller publishers whose revenue still largely depends on pageviews, the impact of AI search is hitting hard.
Local media companies have already seen traffic declines of 25% to 50%, according to Fran Wills, CEO of the Local Media Consortium (LMC), a cooperative of hundreds of local publishers. That drop directly cuts into ad revenue and subscription opportunities.
But while the disruption to referral traffic isn’t new, the way publishers are responding is evolving. Instead of trying to outmaneuver platforms on their own, local publishers are scaling up their reach through collaboration.
The LMC has been helping to drive that collaboration through initiatives like its NewsPassID single sign-on solution and working groups aimed at tackling specific monetization challenges. These efforts delivered roughly $60 million in value back to publisher members last year, according to Chris Fehrmann, chairman of the LMC board and VP of digital for TEGNA, one of the largest local TV and media operators in the US.
Competing less, collaborating more
The idea behind the LMC has always been straightforward: Local publishers are stronger together. But that value proposition has become more urgent as the digital ecosystem shifts.
Smaller publishers, in particular, struggle to access the same tools, data and demand as larger media companies. But, by working collectively, they can negotiate better contracts, share resources and adopt technologies that would otherwise be out of reach.
The benefits of that collaboration include everything from ad tech infrastructure to strategic guidance.
“I’ve learned so much from peers over the years and adopted tactics just through those conversations,” said Matthew Costa, head of product and sales enablement at WEHCO Media, a privately held media company based in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is also one of the newest appointees to the LMC board, having been added in February after years as a member.
The LMC facilitates that exchange through specialized working groups focused on areas such as first-party data, AI and ad monetization. Publishers test strategies independently and then share results with the group.
Shared infrastructure
On the infrastructure side, one of the LMC’s most significant initiatives is NewsPassID, which originally launched in 2021. The organization has used the single sign-on solution to build a programmatic marketplace that aggregates local publisher inventory and data into a single buying point.
The LMC recently tested the effects of NewsPassID adoption on a group of roughly 20 to 25 publishers. This cohort generated about $4 million in revenue last year that the LMC attributes to the NewsPassID marketplace. The participants reported stronger fill rates and higher CPMs compared to other programmatic channels.
One benefit of NewsPassID is that it speaks to the growing buy-side demand for more direct supply paths to premium inventory that minimize the involvement of intermediaries, Costa said.
The NewsPassID marketplace also curates inventory with built-in brand safety and audience targeting, Fehrmann said. Which helps address buy-side concerns about safety and suitability when advertising in the news.
Speed is another advantage of activating campaigns through the marketplace. During the Los Angeles wildfires last January, a major hospitality brand got a campaign up and running through NewsPassID within six hours to promote emergency lodging for displaced residents. This is an example of how aggregated inventory at the local level can respond quickly to real-world events, Fehrmann added.
Under the hood, the NewsPassID network relies on shared infrastructure and identity resolution, with partners like ad ops and monetization platform Aditude helping local outlets implement the technology across their sites. The LMC is also exploring a broader universal ID strategy to offer advertisers even more scaled targeting capabilities.
The bigger goal is clear: Give local publishers greater ownership of demand, data and monetization in a fragmented ecosystem.
Owning the audience
Taking back control over monetization is key at a time when publishers face many challenges that feel beyond their control. Even with better programmatic and yield optimization tools at their disposal, publishers know they can’t rely on steady traffic from platforms the way they once did.
“We’ve been the victims of referral dependency for years,” Costa said. “We have to get serious about reducing that.”
That shift in mindset is showing up across business models. Local publishers are investing more heavily in newsletters, events, mobile apps and video formats to build direct relationships with audiences. Vertical video, in particular, is gaining traction, with some publishers replacing traditional display ads with higher-CPM video units.
Others are expanding into CTV and streaming, or leaning into branded content and sponsorships tied to trusted local journalism.
The underlying strategy is to focus less on raw traffic and more on lifetime value, said Fehrmann. For some publishers, that means making difficult trade-offs, such as deprioritizing low-value web traffic in favor of deeper engagement on owned platforms.
At the same time, publishers are diversifying distribution to hedge against platform risk. That includes partnerships with content aggregators and increased investment in YouTube and other social video channels. The goal isn’t to abandon platforms entirely in favor of owned properties, but to reduce dependence on any single source of traffic.
Sometimes, freshening up your traffic strategy is as simple as getting back to the basics and reconnecting with your community, said Wills.
“That could mean hosting local events, town halls and having reporters become even more embedded in the communities they’re reporting on.”
And combining forces across local outlets to offer marketers more scale and value doesn’t hurt.
“We’re all relatively small on our own,” Costa said, “but pulling together makes us much more competitive.”
