Community knowledge, strong opinions, and clear guidance. The Upscore Blog covers all topics related to editorial data analysis, web analytics, dynamic paywall strategies, checkout processes, content strategy, and recommendation engines.
The festive season catches people out every year. Halloween is on 31 October, Black Friday arrives at the end of November, and Christmas Eve, as always, falls on 24 December. In reality, there’s plenty of time to get ready.
Bot traffic is nothing new – crawlers have been part of the web for 30 years. What’s new is how difficult it has become to detect.
In almost every conversation, presentation or expert article involving or written by digital publishers, the topic comes up: how crucial effective collaboration between different departments is for overall success.
For years, publishers have focused on optimising their paywalls. Better offers. Better messaging. Better design. More testing. All of that still matters. But through our work with customers, we're seeing the same pattern emerge time and again: Teams are no longer focused solely on optimising the point of conversion. They're optimising the entire journey that leads up to it.
The most successful publishers don’t just attract more visitors – they convert more of their reach into paying subscribers. The key is a paywall that is continuously optimised based on data. From our daily work with publishers, we know which factors make the biggest difference. These eight levers offer the greatest opportunities for higher conversion, more subscriptions, and sustainable subscription growth.
A look behind the scenes at our product development – and the topics we are currently focusing on: Editorial Intelligence, AI, Bot Detection and Propensity-to-Subscribe.
It's the height of summer in Europe: temperatures above 35 degrees, packed outdoor swimming pools, empty offices. And our data is clear: People don't necessarily read less during a heatwave – but they do read differently.
Why People want News, but do not want to pay for it It seems like a paradox: on the one hand, interest in news is high – around 80 percent of internet users are interested or even extremely interested. But: Very few people pay for digital content...
At this year's Google I/O, it became very clear that search is undergoing a fundamental transformation: Google is significantly expanding its ‘AI Mode’, putting generative AI responses to the centre and deeply integrating agent-based functions into search...
There are moments that make us realise just how far we’ve come. Our anniversary celebration at the villa in Heine Park was one of those occasions. Ten years of Publishing Intelligence, ten years filled with shared developments, ideas, partnerships, and dialogue...
From 5 to 8 May, the INMA World Congress of News Media took place in Berlin—the largest in its history to date. According to the organisers, it attracted over 775 participants from 38 countries, most of them representatives of news media organisations...
Upscore is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Compared to the long histories of most of our clients, that may not seem like much—but for a technology company in our field, it is quite a while. To be honest, we didn’t initially think in such timeframes...
Are Bundles the Future of Digital Subscriptions? A publishing director recently put this question to me, and it is an interesting one in many respects. There are many different perspectives from which to answer it...
Developments over the past few months reveal an alarming pattern: The USA can no longer be relied upon as a technology and media partner. Publishers must urgently seek out European alternatives to maintain their independence...
In today’s media landscape, attention is everywhere—but genuine trust is rare. Personal brands work and attract attention: a face, a voice, a distinctive style...
I’ve been working on digital transformation for well over 20 years. Fundamentally, I’m pretty relaxed when it comes to change. But there are certain buzzwords that still get my blood boiling. “Joachim, what do you consider to be best practice...
As things are developing so rapidly, we are relaunching this blog with yet another topic on AI. The previously unspoken “content for traffic” deal, which quietly governed the industry since the early 2000s, has now been abandoned. Google is increasingly positioning itself as a competitor for users’ reading time. For publishers, this means that direct monetisation of their own audiences must become an even greater priority...
By late 2025 and early 2026, the signals are becoming clearer: AI will remain omnipresent across the web — but a reordering of trusted sources is underway. After years of exponentially growing synthetic content, a new trend is beginning to emerge:
When it comes to search reach, publishers' sentiment currently ranges from reassurance (“We’re not seeing any major impact yet”) to panic (“Zero Search is definitely coming!”). Our Upscore benchmarks show:
Editorial teams don’t lack ideas. What they lack is time, clarity, and focus. The pressure to publish on homepages, apps, newsletters, and push notifications leaves little room for structured planning. And when planning does happen, it often feels like just another step that slows everything down.
Sunshine in Hamburg — in November? Just one of many highlights during our very first customer day, “Upscore Connect,” which brought many wonderful guests from all across Germany to Hamburg last week.
In September, we - like many of you - attended two of the industry’s major “class reunions”: the Scoopcamp by next.Media Hamburg and the MVFP Distribution Summit, also held in Hamburg.
It’s planning season right now, and naturally the question arises: “Where do we currently stand, and what do we tackle next?” Besides potential AI projects, questions about audience growth and subscription acquisition are likely at the top of the list.
Recently, during a panel discussion, an interesting point was made: “…when it comes to AI, we talk a lot about technology. But in the AI race, it won’t be the best technology that wins, but the best UX…” This sounds plausible (in the consumer space, it was the same with computers, smartphones, etc.), but what does it mean for digital publishing?
Last Monday, OpenAI released the results of a major study based on chat histories from around 1.5 million ChatGPT users between May 2024 and June 2025. The 62-page report covers many aspects, with some of the most important being:
"We now have a pilot newsroom for User Needs!” That’s what the editor-in-chief of one of our Upscore clients recently told me. In his voice, there was a sense of hope - hope that User Needs might finally provide a tool to achieve digital goals: increasing reach and growing subscriptions.
September 2025 brings the industry’s diverse topics to the stage – from artificial intelligence and paid content to values and responsibility. The exciting question: which contributions provide real insights, and where does it remain just the usual buzzword bingo?
A court ruling in Hanover has drawn a lot of attention: the Google Tag Manager may only be used with active consent. According to the administrative judges in Hanover, even loading the script requires a visitor’s approval – and if users don’t consent, publishers lose access to their data. For publishers, this can have serious consequences: analytics break down, and strategies lose their foundation.
What we do at Upscore is often described as “SaaS” - Software as a Service. That may be common, but it doesn’t feel quite right to us. Because if the software is at the center, does that mean the service just runs alongside? No. That’s why we prefer to say: “SaaS - Service, and also Software.” What we do is more than just cloud-based software with a helpdesk attached.
"Since the introduction of 'AI Overviews' (AIO for short), many publishers have been deeply concerned: What happens if Google starts answering users' questions directly—without anyone clicking through to journalistic content anymore?"
Two recent developments from the Google universe are especially noteworthy: First, it's now clear that Google's AI Overviews in search are negatively impacting traffic to news publishers. Then, just last week, news broke that Google is testing AI-generated content in Discover in the U.S. This raises an important question: What should publishers do? In our conversations, we’re seeing a clear shift — publishers are increasingly focusing on their organic (direct) user base, aiming to strengthen relationships and boost engagement. One particularly effective approach: content recommendations.
At Upscore, we are currently observing a new dynamic around Google Discover. While many publishers are still grappling with the effects of AI overviews in Google Search, the next shift is already underway: Google is testing new AI-powered “Trending” tiles directly in the Discover feed. The impact? Still unclear – but the risk of declining reach is increasing. Our recommendation: take strategic action now to safeguard your reach.
What’s the best way to work with data? Unfortunately, the answer is all too often: Look at as much of it as possible. My answer is different: Look at as little as possible—but make sure it’s the right data. The kind that actually helps you measure and manage your strategy.
In spring and early summer, we at Upscore attended four of the many publishing industry events. "We" in this case means Andreas Demuth, Joachim Dreykluft, Christopher Zippert, and me — Christian Hasselbring.
Rarely have I heard such a loud and wide-ranging chorus of opinions from within our industry as I have around the (not just mine) statement: “Search traffic? Looks like that’s over.” One thing is certain: everyone’s talking about it. And many are doing so with visible concern.
Try this on your phone: Type “What news is there for [any city]?” into Google. What you’ll see is a glimpse of the future — one that’s already arrived and is set to fundamentally reshape the internet: AI-generated answers.
At Upscore, we're often asked for simple tips and tricks to sell more premium subscriptions. Of course, it's never really that "simple".
It’s been three years since our first client went live with the dynamic Upscore Paywall. Ever since, one key question has remained: “How does our performance actually compare?”
What ambitious yet achievable goals can publishers set for their editorial teams? Where should they focus their efforts? The Upscore Industry Benchmark provides the answers.
A paywall is not exactly something pleasant. The very word sounds awful: bulky and intimidating. It makes people run into a virtual wall, risking a poor user experience – a digital bruise, so to speak.
"Real-time" is part of Upscore’s DNA. The value of real-time is immediately clear. No one wants to wait. In the age of AI, real-time becomes truly crucial. This is because machines are increasingly making decisions based on data.
One buzzword is stirring minds in Berlin and Brussels, especially in light of political shifts in the U.S.: digital sovereignty. States, companies, and individuals are meant to retain control over their digital data, technologies, and systems.
When I read the new “Digital Transformation Guide” from the American Press Institute, I thought: Well said! Many of the success factors mentioned there have already been extensively discussed in our Upscore GmbH newsletter — and they are crucial for the future of local and regional journalism.
Digital transformation is often associated with technology: websites, apps, smartphones, tablets, data, blockchain, and AI – just to name a few of the buzzwords from the past 25 years. But at its core, digital transformation isn't really about technology. It's about transformation.
Many in our industry have come to understand that a temporary drop in key metrics during optimization processes isn’t collateral damage – it’s a necessary part of a true testing culture.
As an online editor-in-chief, I always had two conflicting feelings before major elections. On one hand: This is a huge opportunity to showcase what we as a newsroom can do, especially digitally. On the other hand: Phew, a lot is coming our way.
When I observe things and analyze a lot of data, I sometimes come up with a rule of thumb. (Recently, I wrote about what "10" means for reach.) I have a similar rule of thumb for the question: How big is the market for premium offerings?
Paywalls are meant to help secure digital business models. But one crucial problem is often overlooked: many paywalls are simply ignored. It’s a phenomenon that could be described as "paywall blindness" – similar to the widespread issue of banner blindness.
For a successful business with premium subscriptions, there’s another key area for optimization: the purchase journeys behind the paywalls are often even more problematic.
Serving paywalls on mobile? Of course! Most news consumption now happens on smartphones. And paywalls are delivered responsively — meaning the layout automatically adjusts to the screen size.
When I'm asked for a simple strategy formula for regional publishers, I answer: You need a perspective-based mix of one-third print, one-third e-paper, and one-third premium (Plus). But how did I come to this conclusion? And what does that mean in numbers?
Insight
Engage
Convert
Data
Grip