Media Briefing: Google’s latest core update a reminder that pageviews can’t remain the primary metric

This week’s Media Briefing looks at the impact of Google’s latest core algorithm update on publishers’ search visibility, and how the changes signal a shift in rewarding scale and pageviews.

• Top U.S. news publishers lose search visibility
• The Atlantic sues Google, Arena Group leans into creators, and more.

For years, big publishers treated Google as a distribution utility: publish a lot, cover everything and let domain authority do the rest. The December core update — rolled out Dec. 11–29 — is another sign that bargain is breaking. In multiple readouts, volatility hit news hard, and the sites that appear to be holding up best are those that behave less like general-interest news hubs and more like “the best answer” engines.

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