The web of 2024 no longer resembles that of two years ago. With the rise of generative artificial intelligence, the implementation of unprecedented European regulatory frameworks, and the reshaping of usage on social media, the benchmarks for marketing and communication professionals have been profoundly shaken. This factual overview lays the groundwork for the transformations that are currently structuring the digital ecosystem.
AI Act Regulation: the legal framework reshaping the European web
The European AI Act Regulation (EU 2024/1689) came into effect on August 1, 2024. Its application timeline runs until December 2, 2027, for high-risk AI systems, after adjustment by the “Digital Omnibus” on May 7, 2026.
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Since February 2, 2025, AI practices deemed to pose unacceptable risks are prohibited in the European Union. This includes social scoring, behavioral manipulation, and real-time biometric identification in public spaces (except in very tightly regulated cases). For companies developing chatbots, recommendation tools, or customer scoring systems, compliance is no longer an option: it is an operational constraint.
Specific obligations for foundational AI models (GPAI, a category that includes GPT, Claude, or Mistral) have been applicable since August 2, 2025. They impose enhanced requirements for transparency and risk management. To keep up with recent news on Myblog, this regulatory dimension is becoming a news thread in its own right, as it conditions how digital platforms and tools can operate in France and Europe.
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Social media and information search: an accelerated fragmentation
The 2024 Digital News Report from the Reuters Institute provides an accurate state of affairs. Social networks remain the primary channel for accessing news worldwide, but their informational use is no longer progressing. Facebook and Twitter (now X) have deprioritized news through their algorithms, resulting in a drop in social traffic for news publishers.
Search engines and aggregators, taken together, now constitute a broader gateway to information than social media alone. This shift changes the game for brands and digital marketing professionals.
Short video and influencers versus traditional media
Short videos are gaining ground as an information format. Influencers are directly competing with journalists for certain audience segments, particularly among younger demographics. Trust in information remains very low, and avoidance of news is increasing year after year.
For communication campaign managers, this data necessitates rethinking content distribution. Betting on a single platform has become risky. Field feedback varies on the best balance between long and short formats, and each channel presents different strengths depending on the target audience and type of message.
Sustainable reporting and CSRD: the constraint that also affects digital
The revised CSRD directive, published on February 26, 2026, extends extra-financial reporting obligations to a much broader scope of companies. This text directly impacts digital strategies: the carbon footprint of digital services falls within the reporting scope for the affected entities.
This is not a niche topic. Large companies must document the environmental impact of their web infrastructures, online advertising campaigns, and data flows. For digital marketing agencies, this means integrating digital sobriety indicators into client deliverables.
- The weight of web pages and site performance become measurable and auditable criteria, not just UX recommendations.
- High-volume programmatic campaigns raise questions about their carbon footprint, an angle that advertisers are beginning to incorporate into their calls for proposals.
- Hosting providers and cloud service providers are increasingly being asked to provide actionable emission data for CSRD reports.
Generative artificial intelligence: beyond the buzz, concrete uses in business
The number of social media users surpassed 5 billion worldwide in 2024, according to the Digital Report from We Are Social. The average daily time spent on social media platforms is 2 hours and 23 minutes, for uses ranging from purchasing to researching information about brands.
In this context, generative AI is not limited to automatic writing. It transforms how companies manage their customer relationships (more sophisticated chatbots, fine-tuned personalization of journeys) and how professionals produce marketing content.
Limits and gray areas for professionals
The integration of AI into workflows raises concrete questions that “trend” reports often overlook. The transparency obligations imposed by the AI Act on GPAI models mean that any AI-generated content must be identifiable in certain contexts. Journalists and communicators must anticipate this requirement, or risk non-compliance.
However, for information search, AI is altering the SEO value chain. Responses generated directly in search engines (“AI Overviews”) are capturing an increasing share of clicks. Natural referencing strategies that worked in 2022 no longer produce the same results.
The web of 2024-2026 is characterized by a tension between rapid innovation and strict regulatory oversight. The AI Act, the CSRD, and the fragmentation of usage on social media are not abstract trends: they are operational constraints that redefine the daily lives of professionals in the digital world, from marketing to communication to web development. Ignoring the regulatory aspect is like steering a digital strategy blindly.