Claire 🌊🇪🇺🇫🇷🌍🧵 The Traffic Apocalypse Has Begun
AI is quietly upending journalism. Google’s latest AI features are reshaping how we find (and don’t find) the news.
Here’s how it’s playing out—and why publishers are sounding the alarm: 👇
1/ Search traffic is collapsing.
Google’s new AI Overviews now answer user queries directly in search—no click required.
📉 Global search traffic has dropped 15% in the past year, according to Similarweb.
2/ The click is dying.
Pew reports that only 1% of users click on links in Google’s AI summaries.
External news sites are getting buried—and fewer users are visiting original sources.
3/ For news publishers, this is existential.
Ad revenue depends on traffic. If no one clicks, no one earns.
Searches ending with no clicks jumped from 56% to 69% since AI Overviews launched.
4/ Publishers are fighting back.
The Independent Publishers Alliance filed an antitrust complaint with the EU.
Their claim: Google’s AI Overviews harm competition and kill revenue.
5/ Meanwhile, Google is doubling down.
New features include:
• AI Mode
• Audio Overviews
• Web Guide
All designed to summarize content—reducing the need to visit actual sources.
6/ And Google’s not alone.
OpenAI and Perplexity are building AI-powered search tools.
The race to dominate the “answer engine” era has begun—leaving traditional media behind.
7/ But here’s the irony...
Google still depends on quality journalism to fuel its AI.
Now it’s seeking licensing deals with publishers—after years of avoiding them.
8/ The 'Offerwall' experiment.
Google's new tool lets publishers monetize through:
✅ Pay-per-article
✅ Ads
✅ Surveys
Early days, but results are uncertain.
9/ Publishers are adapting.
Many are shifting strategies to reduce Google dependence:
📬 Newsletters
📱 Subscriptions
🧠 Community + Events
Survival now means owning your audience.
#AudienceEngagement #MediaStrategy #SubscriptionModel #Newsletters
10/ The bottom line?
Google isn’t just a search engine—it’s now an answer engine.
As The Atlantic’s CEO put it: “The click is no longer the unit of journalism.”
11/ The tension between tech platforms and journalism is escalating.
AI makes search easier—but breaks the economics of truth. Will journalism survive the Traffic Apocalypse?
Source 👇🏻
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