Commerce publishers stop waiting for Google Zero

The first concrete proof that publishers can out-earn search with a direct audience has arrived. Simon Owens reports that The Independent's social-commerce revenue edged past its SEO-based commerce revenue for the first time in September, a milestone CEO Christian Broughton shared at Digiday's Media Strategies event in London. It matters because commerce content, product reviews monetised through affiliate links, has been an SEO game for years, and that game is ending as product research migrates into AI chatbots. Owens notes the New York Times' Wirecutter is moving the same direction, launching editorial verticals designed to engage audiences on a regular basis rather than only when they happen to be researching a purchase. The through-line: the smartest commerce publishers are not waiting for Google Zero to arrive before diversifying away from search.

The crux

Affiliate and commerce revenue is decoupling from search ranking, and the publishers moving first are rebuilding it on owned audiences and social distribution before the referral floor falls out entirely.

Sell-side read

For any publisher with a commerce arm, the September crossover at The Independent is a benchmark, not an anecdote: it shows direct and social audiences can monetise at parity with SEO traffic, which means the "we're screwed without Google" assumption is now testable and refutable.

Watch

Wirecutter's new verticals over the next two quarters, and whether more publishers start reporting their commerce channel mix instead of total affiliate revenue.