In today's Digest, we discuss French publishers taking Google to the competition regulator over AI Overviews, Perplexity moving to block Time's ads aimed at AI agents, and Disney+ and Hulu adding iHeartMedia video podcasts as streaming platforms race into the format. 

French publishers cry foul over Google AI summaries

Nearly 300 French newspapers, represented under a single industry federation, have filed a formal complaint with France's competition authority targeting Google's AI-generated search summaries, arguing the tool risks driving even more traffic away from news publishers. The complaint adds to a growing list of grievances media companies have raised against Google's handling of their content, as the industry continues to face steep declines in advertising income. 

The core concern is that AI summaries pull directly from published journalism while simultaneously discouraging readers from clicking through to the source, since many searchers now find their answer without ever visiting the original article. Google has defended the feature, saying it helps users pose more complex questions, surface new content, and gives publishers tools to manage how their material appears.

Perplexity moves to block Time's ads

Perplexity has confirmed it is preventing ads that Time began embedding within markdown versions of its webpages, content designed to be read by AI agents rather than human visitors, from influencing its search index. Per Digiday's reporting, Perplexity has blocked all markdown advertising on Time.com from shaping either its AI agents or standard search results since the practice first surfaced, and the company's search and security teams are said to be developing further safeguards to shield users from markdown-based advertising more broadly going forward.

Perplexity's chief communications officer Jesse Dwyer told Digiday the company continuously works to protect users from deceptive practices regardless of whether they're sponsored, cautioning that publishers using tactics like markdown ads risk damaging their standing, including their trust score, within Perplexity's proprietary index. 

Disney+ and Hulu add iHeartMedia video podcasts 

Disney+ and Hulu will begin streaming six video podcasts from iHeartMedia under a new licensing agreement, adding to the platforms' existing lineup of 30 podcasts already available to US audiences. Among the titles joining the roster are "Hey Jonas!," hosted by the Jonas Brothers, and "Pod Meets World," featuring cast members from "Boy Meets World," both set to launch on Disney+ later this month, with additional video podcasts planned for the fall. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The move places Disney+ and Hulu alongside other major streamers making similar pushes into video podcasting.