Google’s AI Search Changes Upend Online Publishing

The Verge reported that digital publishers long optimized their pages to rank highly on Google, filling the search index with content while Google supplied exposure and traffic. That reciprocal arrangement changed with Google’s AI search features and changes to how it ranks results. In 2024, Google rolled out AI Overviews, which place an AI-generated summary of pages from across the web at the top of Google Search, with links to sources chosen by the system placed below. Publishers then had to compete for attention under an AI system that reproduces results, with no guarantee users would click through to the source.

The feature drew immediate concern. The News/Media Alliance said AI Overviews would be 'catastrophic' to web traffic, The Verge reported. A 2024 Press Gazette investigation found AI Overviews appeared for almost a quarter of news-related searches in May 2024. By August, the outlet found the feature had begun affecting publisher visibility by replacing media sites that had previously held top spots for certain queries. In May 2025, Google launched AI Mode, which replaces the standard search engine with a chatbot-like interface that provides detailed summaries from web results.

Traffic data cited by The Verge showed steep declines. A June 2025 Wall Street Journal report found traffic to Business Insider, The Washington Post, HuffPost, and the Journal itself had fallen since 2022. Similarweb data cited by the Journal suggested search traffic to The New York Times dropped from 44 percent to 35.5 percent over three years. Digiday reported that 19 members of Digital Content Next, a trade association representing outlets including Bloomberg, The Associated Press, The New York Times, Condé Nast, and Vox Media, experienced Google traffic losses of 1 to 25 percent between May and June 2025. DMG Media, which owns the Daily Mail and Metro, told the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority that click-through rates fell by up to 89 percent between June and July 2025, citing AI Overviews. Pew Research also found people were 'less likely' to click links to other websites when they saw an AI Overview.

Google disputed the idea that its AI search features are harming the web. The Verge reported that Google Search head Liz Reid said click volume from the search engine remained 'relatively stable' and that AI search was sending more clicks to different types of websites, especially those 'with forums, videos, podcasts, and posts' from other users. Nick Fox, Google’s senior vice president of knowledge and information, told the BBC, 'From our point of view, the web is thriving.'

Publishers have also taken legal action. The Verge reported that many lawsuits claiming Google’s AI search features hurt traffic have not succeeded. US District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed an antitrust case from Chegg and Penske Media, which owns The Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Verge. The same judge rejected a proposed class action lawsuit over AI Overviews filed by Arkansas newspapers. Online publishers have had to adjust their strategies as search traffic declines.