Google’s Offerwall, Subs Overtake Ads, 'Game-Changing' AI Bot Blocker...

Thanks to today’s sponsor, Affino—the all-in-one platform for running media and events businesses. Affino supports everything from CRM and content to subscriptions and ecommerce, alongside advanced AI tools like search cards, article questions, and site assistants. Whether you need the full stack or just smarter AI layers on top of your existing tools, Affino delivers flexibility, insight, and growth. Read our full interview with Markus Karlsson, Affino’s CEO.

Google has just launched a new monetisation tool called Offerwall, aimed at helping publishers explore alternative revenue strategies and give users more choice. The launch features Supertab—technology that enables pay-as-you-go access and offers a fresh path to subscriptions. In this week’s Long Read, I speak with Supertab CEO Cosmin Ene about whether this 'third way' could redefine how audiences pay for content.

A packed week….

• Can Google’s Offerwall Give Publisher Revenue a Lifeline?

  With Offerwall now live in Google Ad Manager, readers can unlock content by watching an ad, taking a survey, or making a small (micro)payment. It’s free for publishers and has already been tested across 1,000 media outlets for a longer time span than I care to remember (think: years). See today’s Long Read for a deep dive…

• MUST READ: AI Chatbots Send Virtually No Traffic to Publishers

  TollBit’s latest Q1 report is brutal: referral traffic from AI apps is just 0.04%. Alarmingly, RAG bot scraping grew 49%, proof that AI tools are now constantly pulling in fresh content—not just periodically training on it. Robots.txt? Useless. Stat of the week: Anthropic's bots accessed publisher content 8,692 times for every single user it sent to the same site.

• Anthropic Scores Vital Win in AI ‘Fair Use’ Debate

  Staying on the topic of our favourite AI scraper, a federal judge has ruled that Anthropic's AI training on legally purchased books qualifies as fair use—calling it “spectacularly” transformative and likening it to a writer learning from others, rather than copying. It’s a clear legal precedent and could reshape dozens of ongoing lawsuits. P.S. CLI’s Paul Gerbino tears down the ruling here.

• Subscriptions Beat Ads as Revenue Driver for UK Publishers

  For the first time, subscriptions have overtaken display advertising as the biggest revenue stream for premium UK publishers. According to the latest AOP/Deloitte DPRI report, subs made up 34% of Q1 revenues, while display slipped to 31%. Subs income rose 22% YoY; display fell 2%. Overall revenues grew 9.27%—the strongest post-pandemic increase. Classifieds? Freefalling…

• Business Insider Launches AI-Powered Audio Briefing

  Business Insider has launched a GenAI ‘live’ rundown of its top stories that plays like a mini podcast. Unlike basic text-to-speech, the summaries are created dynamically and cover the latest headlines in real-time. CEO Barbara Peng is now refocusing newsroom resources on scalable AI tech—like BI’s AI search, which drove a 50% lift in clicks. But also saw 21% of its workforce exit in May.

• Fourth-Time Lucky: How Belfast Telegraph Reached 100k Subs

  After three failed attempts to set up a paywall (2008, 2015 and 2017), new owner Mediahuis Ireland implemented a subs strategy powered by “data fed to journalists, telling them what stories convert”. Another key strategy has been its 'pricing ladder', which brings readers in at low cost and consistently raises prices every three months. #boilingthefrog

• Millions of Websites to Get 'Game-Changing' AI Bot Blocker

  Cloudflare will now block AI bots by default—initially the system will apply to new users of Cloudflare services, plus sites that participated in an earlier effort to block crawlers. The company is also developing a "Pay Per Crawl" system, which would give publishers the option to request payment from AI companies for using their content. Condé Nast’s Chief Executive, Roger Lynch, calls it a "game-changer".

• Legacy SEO Faces a Troubled New Reality

  SEO metrics—rankings, clicks, traffic—are dying a painful death. Bluntly put, 3.2 trillion Google searches are now either zero-click or direct to another Google property (e.g. YouTube, Maps, etc). The way forward? Optimise for AI overviews, invest in content Google can’t summarise—opinion, analyses— and double down on owned channels and emails. Search Engine Land gold…

• Is Balanced Reporting the New Differentiator?

  Launched in 2021, Straight Arrow News has set out to change the polarised U.S. political landscape with ‘facts-only’ reporting, context summaries and ‘bias breakdowns’. A 476% jump in unique users hasn’t gone unnoticed: the LA Times is now rolling out 'Viewpoints' summaries, while WaPo is allowing sources to comment directly within stories. The aim? Transparency and trust. Good luck.

• “Which AI Is Best at Writing Code?”—Now We Know

  Lovable’s AI Showdown promised transparency on the biggest coding question in software today. The result? Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 came out on top in real builds by real users with cleaner, more maintainable code and handling longer, more complex projects without falling apart. We know what it trained on…

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• AI TOOL OF THE WEEK: HeyGen

  HeyGen is a text-to-video solution that uses GenAI to produce realistic avatars and voiceovers. Upload a script, choose an avatar, and generate polished presenter-style videos in minutes—no camera, crew, or editing. Supports 300+ voices, 40+ languages, and full customisation. The tech is ever-improving...

• REPORT: The Scaleup Toolkit [Building a Valuable Media Company]

  Collingwood is a specialist UK media consultancy, and its latest report outlines the five essential foundations for growth while addressing familiar challenges such as stalled revenue, founder bottlenecks, and underpowered product strategies. Aimed squarely at media businesses looking to scale.

• EVENT: Media Blend—StoryHack 2025 | 19-22 October

  Held in Bratislava, Slovakia, this pan-European media hackathon is bringing together journalists, media managers, and innovators to co-create new storytelling formats and solutions, alongside expert support. Includes travel grants, €15,000 prize pool, and tickets to the 2025 International Press Institute World Congress (just over the border in Vienna).

• ON THE HORIZON: Newsrewired | 26th November

  Now in its 15th year, Newsrewired returns this November in London. The conference brings together 200 media professionals for two days of focused discussion, practical workshops, and insight-sharing. Attendees include editors (44%), media company directors (24%), and journalists (14%). £255+VAT early bird. Marcella, Jacob and the team deserve your support.

Can Google’s new Offerwall, powered by Supertab, offer a new third way?

As audience behaviour shifts and monetisation pressures mount, most publishers still rely on two familiar pillars: advertising and subscriptions. But Cosmin Ene, Founder and CEO of Supertab, believes it’s time to build a third—one that puts users first while unlocking new revenue for publishers, content providers, and AI platforms.

After years of development, Supertab is now being deployed more broadly via self-service tools and across Google’s ecosystem—including integration with Google Ad Manager and alignment with the open-source A2A protocol.

That broader rollout now has a name: Google’s ‘Offerwall’—a suite of monetisation tools within Ad Manager that includes Supertab’s pay-as-you-go access model. Offerwall gives publishers more ways to monetise non-subscribers—through ads, surveys, or micro-payments—while offering users more control over how they access content.

At its core, Supertab lets readers unlock individual articles, tools, or services without committing to a subscription. It opens a ‘tab’—a running tally of small charges that only triggers payment once a set threshold is reached.

For publishers, it fills a critical gap: how to monetise the 98% of users who never subscribe.

Built Around Reader Behaviour

Supertab’s model is designed to match how people behave online: curious, non-committal, and reluctant to subscribe upfront. Rather than demand immediate commitment, it lets value accrue before requesting payment.

"Whether it’s a consumer reading an article, asking a chatbot a question or an AI agent querying another, Supertab powers the tab—aggregating tiny charges until value is proven and payment makes sense," says Ene. "You pay once you’ve already seen the benefit."

Earlier micropayment systems faltered due to user friction: preloading wallets, confirming every transaction, navigating opaque pricing. Supertab reverses this—content is unlocked first; payment comes later.

It’s why Ene is careful not to describe Supertab as a ‘micropayment’ solution—a term that publishers are already familiar with. Instead, he describes it as ‘next-gen user-centric monetisation’, focused on user choice and designed to avoid the operational inefficiencies and poor user experience that plagued previous attempts.

That said, it’s not been without its challenges. Building a platform that supports payments from 1¢ to $100, across websites, currencies and markets, while maintaining compliance and ease of use has been a complex, multi-year task.

From One-Off Purchases to Subscriptions—By Design

There were also commercial concerns to overcome with media partners, especially around fears that it might cannibalise existing subscriptions.

“We have had to prove that Supertab doesn’t undermine other models—it complements them,” Ene explains. “And in most cases, it actually helps convert casual users into paying subscribers.”

Indeed, Supertab’s early data shows that small payments often lead to subscriptions. More than 10% of users who begin with pay-as-you-go access subscribe within four to six months.

"It is not just a revenue tool—it’s a conversion funnel. We’re creating confident subscribers who choose to convert."

At DeepakChopra.ai, the model appears to work. In addition to those who went straight to purchasing subscriptions, nearly 20% of users who began with time-limited access eventually signed up for a subscription as well, a figure far above industry norms.

This progression is deliberate. Supertab provides a bridge between anonymous browsing and committed subscription, turning casual interaction into loyal engagement. It's an approach that acknowledges the value of time, trust, and proven utility before asking for financial commitment.

Google Trials Prove Successful

According to Google, publishers trialling the Offerwall have seen revenue increases of 5% to 15%, with India’s Sakal Media Group reporting a 20% boost and 2 million additional impressions within just three months.

Supertab enhances the Offerwall by giving users multiple ways to access content—whether by watching an ad, completing a quick survey, or paying a small fee.

“A lot of users are perfectly willing to pay 5–20 cents for an article rather than watch an ad, and many are happy to watch a quick ad,” Ene says. “So by adding Supertab, publishers often see their rewarded ad revenue rise, because more people engage with the ad option to get immediate access.”

This hybrid model does more than just increase ad engagement—it also nurtures future subscribers. Over time, Supertab converts 10–20% of casual, pay-as-you-go readers into full subscribers, helping publishers turn fleeting attention into lasting loyalty.

“It has the potential to become a flywheel,” Ene adds. “You make more money from ads, drive engagement, earn transactional revenue, and steadily grow subscriptions—all by giving users choice.”

Monetising the Machine: Preparing for the AI-First Web

As GenAI reshapes content discovery and consumption, Supertab is having to remain agile.

It is alpha testing Supertab Connect, a payment layer for bots and agents. This enables publishers to monetise AI-driven traffic—from summarisation tools to search agents—just like human visits. Supertab is also leveraging the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol, with support from Google, Microsoft and Salesforce, and is an official launch partner.

"We’re building for where behaviour is heading," says Ene.

The vision is to build monetisation into the core of AI interactions, allowing publishers to capture revenue even when content is accessed indirectly or through emerging tools. As bots become the new browsers, Supertab ensures publishers are not left behind.

Supertab integrates seamlessly for publishers already using Google Ad Manager. No new code or CMS changes are required. Set-up is quick, and reporting flows into existing dashboards.

It’s showing particular promise in sectors like finance, education, wellbeing and law—areas where content is high-value but not always suited to a full subscription. Niche and regional publishers, in particular, may benefit from a flexible access model.

"If you’re producing trusted content but not capturing its full value, Supertab offers another route," Ene says.

A Third Way?

For years, monetisation has been binary: ads or subscriptions. Supertab introduces a third option—targeting the in-between. Casual readers. Occasional visitors. People willing to pay, just not upfront.

"It’s not about replacing what works," Ene concludes. "It’s about capturing value from the audience you’re missing. It’s about user choice."

With Google integrating Supertab into Ad Manager and supporting the Agent-to-Agent protocol, Ene’s model now has the infrastructure—and validation—to scale.

With ads faltering and subscriptions plateauing, it’s a timely evolution for publishers. For those facing an uncertain future, Supertab doesn’t just plug a gap—it opens a door.

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