Content Credentials only create value when they survive the full media lifecycle. A signed master file is useless to readers if optimization strips the manifest before the asset reaches the web. Publishers invest in signing at source — then lose provenance silently at the CDN edge.
This article maps the create → transform → deliver → inspect chain, explains where credentials commonly disappear, and why browser verification at consumption time is the feedback loop that catches delivery failures.
Signing is only the beginning
Signing binds provenance metadata to an asset at a point in time. Every subsequent resize, transcoding, watermarking, CDN optimization or metadata strip can break or remove that binding unless pipelines are designed to preserve C2PA data.
Editorial teams often verify masters in the DAM (Trusted) but see No credentials on the live site — a frustrating false negative caused by infrastructure, not journalism. Closing that gap requires coordination between editorial, engineering and delivery vendors.