The Community Exchange Podcast by OpenWeb Platform Evolution & Content Strategy in the age of AI with Ken Blom
15 snips
Sep 30, 2025 Ken Blom, Chief Business Officer at BuzzFeed, shares insights from his journey scaling digital media in the age of social. He discusses the evolution of affiliate commerce as a key revenue driver and the disruptive effects of AI on traffic and discovery. Ken highlights the importance of community and creators in building strong engagement, and how publishers must rethink their strategies to adapt. He proposes that the future will see distinct niches and innovative app experiences emerge, alongside a potential revival of in-person events.
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Google Zero Threatens Clickthroughs
- Google Zero and AI-driven answers reduce direct clicks to publisher pages and compress advertising opportunities.
- Ken believes search intent still matters but publishers risk losing downstream attribution and ad yields.
Discovery Drives Incremental Commerce
- Discovery content inspires purchases that wouldn't have occurred from pure intent searches.
- Ken stresses publishers create discovery moments that drive affiliate and commerce revenue beyond traditional search intent.
Attribution Becomes Complex With LLMs
- AI agents complicate attribution because they can intermediate discovery and purchase flows without clear credit signals.
- Ken asks who gets paid when LLMs surface products and whether LLMs will make direct deals with retailers.