Useful articles for busy publishing executives

In the fourth quarter of 2025, we developed Purple particularly in two areas: intelligent AI workflows and optimized editorial features. We also introduced our new partner integrations. The goal: publish faster, work more efficiently.

While AI is impacting publisher traffic numbers, media companies like Goalhanger, Condé Nast, and Black Business Magazine are thriving anyway. AI-driven search traffic has declined sharply, with publishers losing up to 30% of their audience to AI tools. While Goalhanger has built a community of 40 million members, Condé Nast receives more email than social media traffic, and Black Business Magazine now relies on partnerships rather than advertising. The conference message: AI poses a threat to traffic, but publishers can adapt with new strategies. In this blog, I've written down what the publishers mentioned above are doing differently.

Purple is continuously evolving to give you the best conditions for success in a dynamic media landscape. In Q3, we rolled out a new set of features and optimisations. Highlights include the new E-Paper Split Screen function for web, comprehensive improvements to the Digital Edition, important accessibility optimisations, as well as AI workflows for automated editorial processes. At the end of the blog, there’s a brief outlook on upcoming features such as the new Kanban board for editorial content planning.

Piano Academy 2025 brought together more than 400 executives from nearly 20 countries at Paris's Pavillon d'Armenonville in early October. The focus: content monetisation in times of declining traffic numbers, dynamic paywalls, AI integration in editorial processes, and the strategic conflict between subscription sales and traditional advertising business. Media houses such as BBC Studios, DER STANDARD, POLITICO, and L'Express shared impressively candid insights into their strategies. The event confirmed for me emphatically: revenue growth doesn't come from more traffic, but from better understanding and more targeted activation of existing users.

The INMA Media Innovation Week in Dublin was a wake-up call. 321 media executives from 28 countries, over 50 speakers, and six media houses as part of the Study Tour. But the real message was clear: the industry has run out of time for excuses. Earl J. Wilkinson, Executive Director and CEO of INMA, warned right from the start: "Publishers have five years, not fifteen." Google Zero is already here, platform traffic is dying out, and only direct customer relationships count anymore. After three and five intensive days respectively (Stephan also attended the Study Tour), we've seen enough to know: those who don't act now will struggle significantly.

At the last Press Gazette Future of Media Technology Conference in London, what struck me most wasn't the discussion of problems, but the concrete, practical solutions leading media houses are implementing today. The presentations from The Economist, Alma Media, O'Reilly Media and FT Strategies demonstrated how AI, data analysis and new technologies are fundamentally reshaping publishing. Here are my key insights, not as theoretical concepts, but as practical strategies that are already delivering measurable results.

Today we’re spotlighting Marcel Stein, who joined our Customer Success team in April 2024 and shows how well fully remote work can function at Purple. Marcel works 100% remotely from Augsburg and has become an indispensable part of the team. What impresses me most? He made the leap from a completely different industry. His journey shows what’s possible at Purple when talent meets the right culture. Let’s take a look behind the scenes.

As a publisher you now benefit from seamless integration between the Purple CMS and the huGO DAM, giving you more efficient content workflows and media use.