WTF are tokens?

For a certain generation, a token had weight. It was a small metal coin dropped into a subway turnstile or an arcade machine — the literal price of access.

Now, the word is back. Only this time the machines are data centers and the games are AI models.

Every prompt, summary, workflow automation or agency consumes tokens, which makes the new variable cost of knowledge work — a meter quietly running beneath everything from marketing reports to media plans.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

,Read More

Digiday+ Research: Dow Jones, Business Insider and other publishers on AI-driven search

01
Introduction

Publishers are utilizing AI more than ever, as we explored in part 1 of this report, but it’s also the source of major challenges for the media industry.

AI-driven search is a big part of those challenges. As of October 2025, a full third of the 15 billion searches conducted on Google (or 5 million) triggered AI Overviews, Semrush president Eugene Levin told Digiday. At the same time, a significant percentage of publishers have said their traffic is decreasing.

This is a member-exclusive article from Digiday. Continue reading it on digiday.com and subscribe to continue reading content like this.

,Read More