"AI-driven search is a big part of those challenges. As of October 2025, a full third of the 15 billion searches conducted on Google (or 5 million) triggered AI Overviews, Semrush president Eugene Levin told Digiday. At the same time, a significant percentage of publishers have said their traffic is decreasing. Well over half of publisher respondents to Digiday+ Research's fourth-quarter 2025 survey said they saw traffic declines last year: 54% said their traffic decreased somewhat or significantly throughout the year in 2025."
"In fact, traffic pattern changes specifically related to social media and AI and site traffic declines due to AI were the top two challenges to the publishing industry identified by respondents to Digiday's Q4 survey: 25% said traffic changes were the biggest challenge and 16% said AI-driven traffic declines were the biggest challenge. And that trend is likely to continue into 2026."
Publishers are increasing AI use while facing major disruptions from AI-driven search and social platforms. As of October 2025, a full third of the 15 billion searches conducted on Google (or 5 million) triggered AI Overviews. Well over half of publisher respondents in a fourth-quarter 2025 survey reported traffic declines, with 54% saying traffic decreased somewhat or significantly during 2025. Traffic pattern changes related to social media and AI and site traffic declines due to AI were identified as top challenges, with 25% and 16% respectively. Nineteen percent of respondents expect social- and AI-related traffic changes to be the biggest challenges in 2026. A survey of 40 publisher professionals and interviews with executives from Business Insider, Dow Jones, Forbes, People Inc., and Really Simple Licensing informed these findings.
Read at Digiday
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