Nearly Half of Owned Media Operators 'Don't Feel Results': AI Adoption Advances, But Survey Reveals 'Lack of Strategy' Barrier
A survey by LiKG Inc. targeting 80 owned media managers revealed that over half have experienced failures and do not feel tangible results. While AI adoption is progressing, the study highlighted that a 'lack of strategy' is a significant barrier for many companies.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 13, 2026 at 18:00
- 🔍 Collected: May 13, 2026 at 09:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 13, 2026 at 09:55 (23 min after Collected)
LiKG Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Representative: Mitsuo Kondo) conducted a survey targeting 80 managers involved in owned media operations regarding their operational status and AI utilization.
The survey results showed that 51.3% of respondents had 'experienced failures' in owned media operations, exceeding half. Furthermore, only 13.75% 'strongly felt results,' with a combined 51.25% stating they 'hardly feel results' or 'don't feel results at all.' This revealed the high difficulty of operations and the persistent significant barrier to generating results.
■ Over Half 'Experienced Failures,' Results Perception Also Polarized
Figure 1: Failure Experiences in Owned Media Operations
First, regarding failure experiences in owned media operations, 51.25% responded 'yes' and 48.75% responded 'no,' indicating that over half of the managers had experienced what they considered failures.
Figure 2: Perception of Results in Owned Media
On the other hand, regarding the perception of results, the 'group feeling results' (combining 'strongly feel results' at 13.75% and 'somewhat feel results' at 35%) accounted for 48.75%. In contrast, the 'group not feeling results' (combining 'hardly feel results' at 27.50% and 'don't feel results at all' at 23.75%) accounted for 51.25%, resulting in a nearly even split in the perception of results (Figure 2).
This suggests a structure where, while a certain number of successes exist in owned media, an equally large 'group stagnating without connecting to results' also exists.
■ The Biggest Failure is 'Unable to Acquire Leads,' 'Monetization' is a Barrier More Than Traffic
Figure 3: Specific Failure Contents in Owned Media Operations
The most common specific failure was 'not leading to lead acquisition' at 48.78%. This was followed by 'no increase in search traffic' at 43.90%, indicating that challenges are evident in both customer acquisition and conversion.
Meanwhile, 'updates stopped' was 17.07%, and 'unable to continue content creation' and 'unable to gain internal cooperation' were both 21.95%, suggesting that structural issues like 'continuing but not connecting to results' are more serious than mere operational halts.
Also, 'unstable article quality' was relatively low at 9.76%, indicating a tendency for failures to stem more from 'design and user flow' than from quality issues alone.
■ 'Lack of Strategy' is the Most Common Cause of Failure, Design Issues Before Production are Prominent
Figure 4: Causes of Failure in Owned Media
The most frequently cited cause of failure was 'lack of strategy' at 39.02% (Figure 4). This was followed by 'insufficient production system' at 34.15% and 'budget shortage' at 26.83%.
Particularly noteworthy is the presence of 'insufficient keyword design' at 24.39% and 'lack of internal understanding' at 19.51%. This indicates that challenges arise at the design and decision-making stages, such as 'what to aim for' and 'why to do it,' rather than merely resource shortages.
In other words, it has become clear that 'strategic design capability as marketing' is the factor that determines success, rather than just content creation issues.
■ AI Utilization Expands to 56.25%, But 'Main Use' Remains at 7.5%
Figure 5: AI Utilization Status in Owned Media Operations
Regarding AI utilization in content creation, 'main use' was 7.50% and 'auxiliary use' was 46.7%, with over half utilizing AI (Figure 5).
While 56.25% of respondents use AI, 'main use' remained at 7.50%, indicating that auxiliary utilization is still central for many companies. The fact that 'main use' is less than 10% highlights the current situation where AI is often positioned as merely an auxiliary tool and has not yet become central to operations.
Among the AI tools actually used, 'ChatGPT' was the most common at 53.33%, closely followed by 'Gemini' at 48.89%.
'Claude' was used by 24.44% and 'NotebookLM' by 13.33%, showing a certain level of utilization and suggesting that tools are being used differently depending on their purpose. Meanwhile, 'proprietary AI writing tools' remained at 4.44%, indicating that the utilization of general-purpose generative AI is mainstream.
From free responses, the actual methods of AI utilization also became clear. Overall, AI is not used for a single purpose but broadly for research, outline creation, writing, proofreading, and document creation.
The survey results showed that 51.3% of respondents had 'experienced failures' in owned media operations, exceeding half. Furthermore, only 13.75% 'strongly felt results,' with a combined 51.25% stating they 'hardly feel results' or 'don't feel results at all.' This revealed the high difficulty of operations and the persistent significant barrier to generating results.
■ Over Half 'Experienced Failures,' Results Perception Also Polarized
Figure 1: Failure Experiences in Owned Media Operations
First, regarding failure experiences in owned media operations, 51.25% responded 'yes' and 48.75% responded 'no,' indicating that over half of the managers had experienced what they considered failures.
Figure 2: Perception of Results in Owned Media
On the other hand, regarding the perception of results, the 'group feeling results' (combining 'strongly feel results' at 13.75% and 'somewhat feel results' at 35%) accounted for 48.75%. In contrast, the 'group not feeling results' (combining 'hardly feel results' at 27.50% and 'don't feel results at all' at 23.75%) accounted for 51.25%, resulting in a nearly even split in the perception of results (Figure 2).
This suggests a structure where, while a certain number of successes exist in owned media, an equally large 'group stagnating without connecting to results' also exists.
■ The Biggest Failure is 'Unable to Acquire Leads,' 'Monetization' is a Barrier More Than Traffic
Figure 3: Specific Failure Contents in Owned Media Operations
The most common specific failure was 'not leading to lead acquisition' at 48.78%. This was followed by 'no increase in search traffic' at 43.90%, indicating that challenges are evident in both customer acquisition and conversion.
Meanwhile, 'updates stopped' was 17.07%, and 'unable to continue content creation' and 'unable to gain internal cooperation' were both 21.95%, suggesting that structural issues like 'continuing but not connecting to results' are more serious than mere operational halts.
Also, 'unstable article quality' was relatively low at 9.76%, indicating a tendency for failures to stem more from 'design and user flow' than from quality issues alone.
■ 'Lack of Strategy' is the Most Common Cause of Failure, Design Issues Before Production are Prominent
Figure 4: Causes of Failure in Owned Media
The most frequently cited cause of failure was 'lack of strategy' at 39.02% (Figure 4). This was followed by 'insufficient production system' at 34.15% and 'budget shortage' at 26.83%.
Particularly noteworthy is the presence of 'insufficient keyword design' at 24.39% and 'lack of internal understanding' at 19.51%. This indicates that challenges arise at the design and decision-making stages, such as 'what to aim for' and 'why to do it,' rather than merely resource shortages.
In other words, it has become clear that 'strategic design capability as marketing' is the factor that determines success, rather than just content creation issues.
■ AI Utilization Expands to 56.25%, But 'Main Use' Remains at 7.5%
Figure 5: AI Utilization Status in Owned Media Operations
Regarding AI utilization in content creation, 'main use' was 7.50% and 'auxiliary use' was 46.7%, with over half utilizing AI (Figure 5).
While 56.25% of respondents use AI, 'main use' remained at 7.50%, indicating that auxiliary utilization is still central for many companies. The fact that 'main use' is less than 10% highlights the current situation where AI is often positioned as merely an auxiliary tool and has not yet become central to operations.
Among the AI tools actually used, 'ChatGPT' was the most common at 53.33%, closely followed by 'Gemini' at 48.89%.
'Claude' was used by 24.44% and 'NotebookLM' by 13.33%, showing a certain level of utilization and suggesting that tools are being used differently depending on their purpose. Meanwhile, 'proprietary AI writing tools' remained at 4.44%, indicating that the utilization of general-purpose generative AI is mainstream.
From free responses, the actual methods of AI utilization also became clear. Overall, AI is not used for a single purpose but broadly for research, outline creation, writing, proofreading, and document creation.