As Google expands its artificial intelligence (AI) search features, the online publishing industry is seeing less search-driven traffic.

On Oct. 25, IT outlet The Verge reported concerns that clicks to external sites are falling as Google rolls out “AI Overviews,” which summarise web information at the top of search results, and “AI Mode,” a conversational search feature.

The central change is that search results have shifted from lists of links to AI summaries. In the past, media outlets optimised articles and web pages to rank highly in search results, and Google sent visitors in return. But as AI Overviews summarise information from multiple sources, more users are getting what they need without visiting original pages.

Publishers see this as more than a design change and as a disruption to their revenue structures. News/Media Alliance warned that AI Overviews could have a “catastrophic” impact on web traffic. In May 2024, AI Overviews appeared in about one quarter of news-related searches, and in August that year they began replacing links from some previously top-ranked news outlets for certain queries.

The traffic decline is also reflected in data. According to material released in June 2025, search referrals to Business Insider, The Washington Post, HuffPost and The Wall Street Journal have fallen since 2022. The share of search referrals for The New York Times also fell to 35.5 percent from 44 percent over three years, it said. Nineteen member companies of Digital Content Next said Google search referrals fell 1 to 25 percent by company in May to June 2025. DMG Media, which owns the Daily Mail and Metro, said click-through rates for some search terms dropped as much as 89 percent in June to July that year.

User behaviour also supports the shift. Pew Research said users were less likely to click links to other websites when AI Overviews were displayed. As users can get answers directly on the search results page, the flow of traffic to news outlets, blogs and specialist sites is weakening.

Google does not agree with claims that AI search is shrinking the web ecosystem. Liz Reid (리즈 리드), who leads Google Search, said the volume of clicks from search is “relatively stable” and argued that AI search is sending more clicks to a variety of sites, including forums, videos, podcasts and user posts. Nick Fox (닉 폭스), Google’s senior vice president for Knowledge & Information, also told the BBC, “From our point of view, the web is thriving.”

Legal action by publishers is also continuing. Publishers in several countries filed lawsuits against Google, saying the AI search feature hurt traffic. In the United States, however, an antitrust lawsuit filed by online platform Chegg and digital publishing company Penske Media was dismissed, and an effort by Arkansas local newspapers to pursue a class action over AI Overviews was also not accepted.

Media outlets are changing strategy by strengthening social media, newsletters and subscription models to reduce reliance on search and increase direct traffic and paying readers. Some are also considering ways to keep search visibility while limiting the use of their content in AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Google is also rolling out measures. It has placed source links more prominently in AI Overviews and AI Mode and added a feature that shows related articles and images when users hover over a link. It is also placing links more frequently and higher up within the body of answers.

It is also testing content compensation systems. Google is running a News AI pilot programme with more than 400 publishers, including The Washington Post, CNN, Axios and the Financial Times. It pays participating publishers for use of their content and secures rights to use that content to develop new AI features. Separately, it is also testing a programme that compensates content based on its contribution to AI Overviews, AI Mode and other features.

The key question is whether these measures can restore the relationship between Google and publishers. As search changes from a gateway to external sites into an interface that provides answers directly, the online publishing industry faces the need to overhaul its traffic-based business model.