IO+ Week: The inscrutable world of camper clicks
Our weekly roundup offers a summary every Sunday of the most interesting stories around key innovations.
Published on January 18, 2026
Bart, co-founder of Media52 and Professor of Journalism oversees IO+, events, and Laio. A journalist at heart, he keeps writing as many stories as possible.
Before we show you our weekly list of recommended articles, I want to briefly talk about the wondrous yet sometimes completely inscrutable world of clicks. I do so because, once again, an article about innovation in the camper and caravan world ended up in the top three most-read stories last week. It just missed the number one spot (that honor went to the dispute between the Italian government and Cloudflare), but it still feels strange.
To understand my puzzlement, I first need to explain something about our positioning. For more than 11 years, we have been a platform for news about innovative developments that help solve the major challenges of our time. Think healthcare, the energy transition, food supply, mobility, digitalization in general, and more. We capture this in our five main categories: CHIP+, DATA+, BIO+, GREEN+, and Community. The first four probably speak for themselves; the last exists to include all the “enabling” aspects as well.
On target
Some articles are more “on target” than others, but there is always a link to our central mission. At the same time, every editor has personal interests, and we like to leave room for that—as long as there is some connection to technology and innovation. That is how it happened that, a few years ago, our colleague Elcke (now our editor-in-chief) wrote a humorous article about innovations in the camper world. That piece quickly grew into our all-time most-read article, which surprised us, of course, because we make no attempt whatsoever to position ourselves as a platform for campers.
Here we see the power of discoverability through search terms that Google happens to pick up. As a result, people looking for information about campers can suddenly end up with us, mainly because Google decides that this IO+ article is the most relevant result for that person at that moment. And note: these are not day traders’ spikes. A successful article like this can continue to perform well for months, sometimes even years. Inevitably, that lowers the threshold for publishing later camper-related stories. Because let’s be honest: if we can do something that aligns with the interests of our (potential) audience, we’re happy to do so.
Do those camper enthusiasts then go on to read lots of other articles on our platform? Well, no. Such articles do not generate much lasting or returning traffic. That’s why those of you who are not campers don’t need to worry: we will continue to focus on the topics closest to our hearts. Below is an overview of the past seven days.
A selection of other highlights from the past week:
- When AI outruns the microchip: imec’s acceleration plan
- The challenge: indestructible wind turbine blades
- “Healthy aging starts with good measurement”
- Solutions to the housing shortage are closer than we think
- ‘Forever chemicals’: focus on the tap, not the source
- Climate change cost $100 billion in 2025
- Argylium’s push against China’s grip on solid-state batteries
- Full focus on the startup ecosystem at Braventure’s New Year’s event
- The pain point of the energy transition: ‘lost’ green energy
- Small reactors show promise—if these conditions are met
- More than 75% of newly sold cars are hybrid or electric
- Cyber expert: AI feels like having 10 assistants for hackers
- Bernardo Kastrup sees one last chance for Europe in the AI race
Would you like to see all our other articles as well? You can find them here.
A Daily Podcast
A new episode of our daily podcast is ready for you every weekday at 6:30 AM. In it, our AI colleagues Oliver and Shelby discuss the two most interesting stories of the day. That makes IO+ Daily the perfect way to start your morning with optimistic news from the world of innovation and technology. See you tomorrow.
Our Other Newsletters
Thank you for reading this newsletter. But there’s more. Subscribing is easy — via the options on the IO+ homepage or simply by clicking one of the newsletters below:
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- Mauro’s Green Corner (monthly, 13,800 subscribers)
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- Elcke en Mauro’s BIO+ Bites (monthly, 29,300 subscribers)
- Bart’s Saturday CHIPS (monthly, 16,300 subscribers)
Enjoy your Sunday — and don’t forget: a new episode of IO+ Daily will be waiting for you tomorrow morning at 6:30. Be prepared before you hop on your bike! 🚲