Publishers report traffic losses as Google expands AI search

Publishers have spent two years measuring how Google’s artificial intelligence search features affect traffic to their websites.

DMG Media told the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority that click-through rates fell by as much as 89% in 2025. The company, which owns the Daily Mail and Metro, attributed the decline to Google’s AI Overviews.

The figure appears in a recent Stepback column by Emma Roth at The Verge. The column traces how AI Overviews and AI Mode have altered publishers’ relationship with Google.

Google rolled out AI Overviews in 2024. The feature places an AI-generated summary above traditional search results and includes links to supporting sources.

The News/Media Alliance warned that the feature could be “catastrophic” for publisher traffic. Press Gazette reported that AI Overviews appeared on nearly a quarter of news-related searches in May 2024.

Google introduced AI Mode the following year. The feature offers a more conversational search experience built around generated answers.

Several publishers have since reported declining search traffic, though the figures cover different periods and measures.

The Wall Street Journal reported declines at Business Insider, The Washington Post, HuffPost and the Journal itself since 2022. Similarweb found Google search generated 35.5% of New York Times traffic, down from 44% three years earlier.

Digital Content Next also reported Google traffic losses among 19 members between May and June 2025. The declines ranged from 1% to 25%.

A Pew Research Center study found users were less likely to click links when an AI summary appeared.

Google disputes the broader picture. Search head Liz Reid has said overall click volume remained “relatively stable.”

Senior Vice President Nick Fox offered a similar assessment to the BBC. “From our point of view, the web is thriving,” he said.

Publishers have also challenged Google in court.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed antitrust claims from Chegg and Penske Media, which owns The Verge. Media Copilot previously covered the ruling. Mehta also rejected a proposed class action from Arkansas newspapers.

Publishers are pursuing other responses. Some are emphasizing subscriptions, newsletters and social platforms as direct audience channels.

Google has also introduced an option allowing sites to exclude content from AI Mode and AI Overviews. The company expanded that control following pressure from U.K. regulators.

Meanwhile, Google has made original source links more prominent within its AI-powered search features. Media Copilot covered recent link-placement changes separately.

Google is also working with publishers through two distinct initiatives.

The company says about 400 publishers participate in its News AI licensing pilot. Participants include The Washington Post, CNN, Axios and the Financial Times.

Separately, reports from The Information and Digiday say Google is testing payments for publisher content used in AI Overviews and AI Mode. The Verge column does not provide payment terms for that reported test.

For publishers, both programs remain worth watching. The key questions are how broadly Google expands them, which publishers participate and what compensation arrangements emerge.