Jon Slade, chief executive of the Financial Times, recently proposed the idea of a “Nato for news” alliance at a media conference, aimed at enhancing negotiations with artificial intelligence (AI) companies. His comments followed reports of a significant decline in traffic to the Financial Times’ articles via search engines, indicating a potential challenge posed by AI developments.
Slade noted a 25% to 30% drop in traffic from search engines, which have been fundamental for online journalism. Google’s dominance, comprising over 90% of the search market, has allowed news providers to optimize content for visibility. However, Google’s introduction of AI Overviews, which summarize information and often reduce the need to click through to original articles, raises concerns about a diminishing flow of traffic to these publishers.
Reports from DMG Media highlight an alarming 89% decrease in click-through traffic due to AI Overviews, prompting major publishers, including the Guardian Media Group and the Periodical Publishers Association, to call for greater transparency in traffic statistics from Google.
The publishing industry is already facing financial challenges, including rising costs and decreased advertising revenue, with many publishers feeling pressured to negotiate with Google regarding content usage or risk being excluded from search results. Additionally, concerns regarding AI’s reliability and potential biases persist, further complicating the situation.
While Google asserts that overall traffic remains stable, it acknowledges shifting user trends that may disadvantage some sites. Concurrently, Google Discover has emerged as a primary source of traffic, although some experts question its effectiveness in delivering quality engagement.
As publishers navigate these changes, many are pursuing licensing agreements with AI firms while also adopting AI tools within their own operations. The industry faces a critical juncture as it endeavors to balance technological advancements with the financial viability of trusted news reporting.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/sep/06/existential-crisis-google-use-ai-search-upended-web-publishers-models