THE decline in organic search traffic for digital publishers is primarily attributed to Google's AI Overviews, which scrape original content and provide AI-generated summaries directly in search results. This trend has prompted major media entities like Reuters and USA Today to reconsider their collaborations with Google. Reddit, bound by a lucrative licensing deal with Google, is also reassessing its agreement due to significant drops in referral traffic.
Despite these challenges, Google denies responsibility for the traffic collapse. As a response, publishers are considering legal actions against Google for copyright infringement, as they argue that the AI Overviews threaten the financial viability of their businesses.