Google AI is draining traffic from websites — here's how

Google is rapidly transforming traditional search into a dialogue-based "answer engine", and that is already hurting media traffic. Chatbots capable of delivering ready-made resumes without the need to click on blue links are reducing the number of click-throughs that publishers have relied on for years.

The Wall Street Journal writes about it.

How AI search has hit publications

According to Similarweb, organic traffic to HuffPost from desktop and mobile devices has more than halved in three years, while the Washington Post's has dropped almost as much. In April, Business Insider laid off about 21% of its employees: CEO Barbara Peng explained this by extreme traffic drops beyond the editorial team's control. In the same month, search visits to the publication's websites fell by 55% compared to April 2022.

At the general meeting, Nicholas Thompson, the Head of The Atlantic, warned that it was worth preparing for almost zero traffic from Google and changing the business model. His words are supported by statistics: AI Overviews, launched last year, which show a summary of search results at the top of the page, have already "eaten up" the audience of travel and medical advice, product reviews, and last month's launch of AI Mode in the United States will increase the impact by answering queries in a chat format with a minimum of links.

Publishers are starting to talk about the "post-search era". The Washington Post Publishing House, led by William Lewis, is "looking for new sources of revenue in a hurry", while the New York Times saw its share of search traffic fall to 36.5% in April 2025, down from almost 44% three years ago. The Wall Street Journal saw an increase in the absolute number of click-throughs from Google, but its share of total traffic dropped from 29% to 24%.

Google assures that it remains committed to "sending users to the web", and those who do click through after AI Overviews spend more time on the sites. The company adds that it increases the visibility of news sources and does not show AI summaries when querying current events, although advice materials or old articles may receive such summaries.

It is not the first time that technology has hit the media. First, the internet undermined the profitability of print media, then social media redirected traffic using their own algorithms, and now generative AI is changing the way we use the web.

"Something has always been a game changer in the past, but now AI will be the final straw," Neil Vogel, CEO of Dotdash Meredith, says.

Due to the decline in search, media outlets are becoming more active in building direct connections with their audiences:

• The Atlantic improves its app, increases the number of print issues, and invests in conferences;
• Politico and Business Insider are focusing on reader engagement.

At the same time, publishers protect copyright:

• The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft and has agreed a licence with Amazon;
• News Corp, the parent company of the WSJ, has entered into an agreement with OpenAI and filed a lawsuit against Perplexity.

The race of generative AI threatens the search business itself: despite Google's statements about the growth of queries on Apple devices, the representative of the latter said in court that the volume of Safari searches recently fell for the first time in two decades.

As a reminder, Google has started to introduce ads in AI Search and AI Overviews for the United States' users. The company claims that such ads should help people find the right products, services, and companies faster, increasing search efficiency.

We also wrote that Google unveiled the AI Edge Gallery app that allows running AI models directly on a smartphone without access to the Internet. Currently, the app is available on Google Play for Android and will soon be available for iOS.