Google rolled out AI Overviews in search results for all U.S. users last week, which could result in a significant dip in referral traffic to many publishers’ sites. AI responses now appear at the top of results pages and provide direct answers to many queries instead of pointing users to third-party websites to find relevant content.
Google has been moving in this direction for some time by including snippets from publishers' content directly in search results pages, but publishers worry the shift to AI-driven responses will result in Google sending less traffic to their sites. That’s bad news for many – particularly for those reliant on advertising as their primary revenue source.
I asked a few publishers last week what impact they think the move will have on their businesses and the replies were interesting. One described it as “end game for publishers that rely on “utility content”. Another said it was “The final nail in the coffin for them working with Google.” A third replied with a gif of an asteroid wiping out a planet