Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in news monetization strategies, supporting subscription management, donation prompts, dynamic paywalls, and programmatic advertising. While scholarly research has examined AI adoption in journalism, limited work has systematically connected these insights with real-world practices of leading news outlets.
This study aims to bridge this gap by examining how AI tools support news monetization. Specifically, it addresses two research questions: (RQ1) What does existing research reveal about the use of AI in monetization strategies of digital news platforms, and which areas remain underexplored? (RQ2) How do leading news websites apply AI technologies for monetization, and what common practices can be identified?
For RQ1, a scoping review of 16 studies (2019–2025) was conducted using Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) framework. For RQ2, a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of The New York Times (NYT) and The Guardian websites was carried out, guided by Ethnographic Content Analysis (ECA) (Altheide & Schneider, 2013).
The scoping review showed that AI is mainly applied to personalization, subscription optimization, and ad targeting, while research on retention and transparency remains limited. The content analysis corroborated these patterns: the NYT explicitly integrated AI into its website, whereas The Guardian relied on automated tools and third-party data collection that could support future AI deployment. Both depend on extensive data infrastructures despite pursuing different monetization models.
This study showed that AI practices in news monetization are shaped by business models, linking them to value chain analysis, the reader-first paradigm, and diffusion of innovation. It underscores the need to balance personalization and data use with transparency and to foster collaboration for sustainable adoption. Further research is needed on retention strategies, algorithmic transparency, the economics of personalization, and the impact of third-party data infrastructures on media independence.