As AI agents chip away at the internet's monetization model, here's how advertisers stand to benefit

Jul 9, 2025

Paramark News Desk

Credit: Google

Key Points

  • AI agents are disrupting the traditional ad-supported internet model, threatening publishers' revenue streams.

  • Advertisers benefit from AI agents by consolidating user engagement data across fewer platforms.

  • Siyun Fan, VP of Product and Data at OOH advertising firm Vistar Media, suggests a shift to content-agent interaction, requiring new infrastructure and payment models.

  • Fan warns of societal risks, emphasizing the need for diversified content to avoid informational bubbles.


The traditional media monetization value chain is going to break. The biggest loser in this new world is the publishers, the content owners, because if we no longer go directly to their site for information, their primary revenue stream collapses.

Siyun Fan

VP of Data Product
,
Vistar Media

AI agents are skipping the click, and with them goes the internet’s core business model. No traffic means no revenue, and publishers are the first to fall.

With over 15 years in ad tech and content monetization, Siyun Fan, VP of Product and Data at OOH advertising firm Vistar Media, has a front-row seat to the disruption. She argues that the traditional ad-supported model that has powered the internet for decades is facing an existential threat.

Content without clicks: "We need to really rethink what a survivable monetization model looks like in this new climate, because the traditional media monetization value chain is going to break," Fan says. "The biggest loser in this new world is the publishers, the content owners, because if we no longer go directly to their site for information, their primary revenue stream collapses."

It’s a quiet collapse hiding in plain sight. If agents replace human visits, publishers lose ad revenue, audience data, and brand equity all at once.

Ad vantage: But not everyone gets hurt in this new ecosystem. "For advertisers, it doesn't really matter where the touchpoint with the user is," Fan explains. "In fact, they gain productivity. Instead of going to thousands of different platforms, they can now go to a handful of agent platforms that have direct visibility into all of a user's queries and engagement."

For advertisers, it doesn't really matter where the touchpoint with the user is. In fact, they gain productivity. Instead of going to thousands of different platforms, they can now go to a handful of agent platforms that have direct visibility into all of a user's queries and engagement.

Siyun Fan

VP of Data Product
,
Vistar Media

Blueprint for survival: Fan argues that survival won’t come from tweaks, it will require a rebuild. "We're pivoting to a world of content-agent interaction, not content-user interaction," she says. "Creators have to ask what they need to do to facilitate content discovery where the audience is no longer a human, but an AI agent." That shift demands new infrastructure, from agent-optimized content design to payment rails that don’t rely on human clicks. Fan also points to micropayments as a missing piece: "Is this the moment that cryptocurrency actually comes back in a real, practical way?"

The final piece is a new reporting layer for observability and verification. "How do you prove value in this new world?" Fan asks. "If I'm a brand paying for a campaign on your application, I need to see some performance." Without traditional tracking methods, publishers and platforms will need to invent a new, generalized reporting layer built for observability in an agent-driven ecosystem.

Pop the bubble: For Fan, this isn’t just a technical challenge. It’s a societal one. "As a society, we need objective voices and diversified content streams. The alternative is a future where we all live in our own 'informational bubble,' and it's critical that the tech community steps up to build the tools to prevent that."

But even the best tools aren't enough without scrutiny. "I keep reminding myself that once you get comfortable with an agent, you stop checking it," she warns. "This is what makes expertise and domain knowledge even more important. We cannot blindly trust the information fed to us."

As AI agents chip away at the internet's monetization model, here's how advertisers stand to benefit

Jul 9, 2025

Paramark News Desk

Credit: Google

Key Points

  • AI agents are disrupting the traditional ad-supported internet model, threatening publishers' revenue streams.

  • Advertisers benefit from AI agents by consolidating user engagement data across fewer platforms.

  • Siyun Fan, VP of Product and Data at OOH advertising firm Vistar Media, suggests a shift to content-agent interaction, requiring new infrastructure and payment models.

  • Fan warns of societal risks, emphasizing the need for diversified content to avoid informational bubbles.


The traditional media monetization value chain is going to break. The biggest loser in this new world is the publishers, the content owners, because if we no longer go directly to their site for information, their primary revenue stream collapses.

Siyun Fan

VP of Data Product
,
Vistar Media

AI agents are skipping the click, and with them goes the internet’s core business model. No traffic means no revenue, and publishers are the first to fall.

With over 15 years in ad tech and content monetization, Siyun Fan, VP of Product and Data at OOH advertising firm Vistar Media, has a front-row seat to the disruption. She argues that the traditional ad-supported model that has powered the internet for decades is facing an existential threat.

Content without clicks: "We need to really rethink what a survivable monetization model looks like in this new climate, because the traditional media monetization value chain is going to break," Fan says. "The biggest loser in this new world is the publishers, the content owners, because if we no longer go directly to their site for information, their primary revenue stream collapses."

It’s a quiet collapse hiding in plain sight. If agents replace human visits, publishers lose ad revenue, audience data, and brand equity all at once.

Ad vantage: But not everyone gets hurt in this new ecosystem. "For advertisers, it doesn't really matter where the touchpoint with the user is," Fan explains. "In fact, they gain productivity. Instead of going to thousands of different platforms, they can now go to a handful of agent platforms that have direct visibility into all of a user's queries and engagement."

For advertisers, it doesn't really matter where the touchpoint with the user is. In fact, they gain productivity. Instead of going to thousands of different platforms, they can now go to a handful of agent platforms that have direct visibility into all of a user's queries and engagement.

Siyun Fan

VP of Data Product
,
Vistar Media

Blueprint for survival: Fan argues that survival won’t come from tweaks, it will require a rebuild. "We're pivoting to a world of content-agent interaction, not content-user interaction," she says. "Creators have to ask what they need to do to facilitate content discovery where the audience is no longer a human, but an AI agent." That shift demands new infrastructure, from agent-optimized content design to payment rails that don’t rely on human clicks. Fan also points to micropayments as a missing piece: "Is this the moment that cryptocurrency actually comes back in a real, practical way?"

The final piece is a new reporting layer for observability and verification. "How do you prove value in this new world?" Fan asks. "If I'm a brand paying for a campaign on your application, I need to see some performance." Without traditional tracking methods, publishers and platforms will need to invent a new, generalized reporting layer built for observability in an agent-driven ecosystem.

Pop the bubble: For Fan, this isn’t just a technical challenge. It’s a societal one. "As a society, we need objective voices and diversified content streams. The alternative is a future where we all live in our own 'informational bubble,' and it's critical that the tech community steps up to build the tools to prevent that."

But even the best tools aren't enough without scrutiny. "I keep reminding myself that once you get comfortable with an agent, you stop checking it," she warns. "This is what makes expertise and domain knowledge even more important. We cannot blindly trust the information fed to us."