Google AI search features cut traffic for online publishers
Original title: Google’s AI search changes upended online publishing
Publishers cite click-through drops of up to 89 percent, while Google says search click volume stayed relatively stable.
The Verge newsletter traces how AI Overviews, launched in 2024, and AI Mode, launched in May 2025, summarize web results and reduce clicks to news sites. Trade groups and outlets report falling Google traffic, and several lawsuits have failed. Google disputes the harm, has made source links more prominent, and says 400 publishers joined a News AI licensing pilot.
Unconfirmed: Google says click volume remained relatively stable, which conflicts with publisher and analytics reports.
- Press Gazette found AI Overviews on nearly a quarter of news searches in May 2024.
- WSJ-cited Similarweb data put New York Times search traffic at 35.5 percent, down from 44.
- DCN said 19 members lost 1 to 25 percent of Google traffic between May and June 2025.
- DMG Media told the UK regulator click-through rates fell by up to 89 percent.
- Judge Amit Mehta dismissed suits from Chegg, Penske Media, and Arkansas newspapers.
- Vendors
- Products
- AI OverviewsAI ModeGoogle Search
- Organizations
- News/Media AllianceDigital Content NextPew Research
From the original article
5 min read at theverge.com
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By Emma Roth · theverge.com
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