Major US news websites have experienced substantial traffic declines since Google's AI search feature introduction last year, with up to 40% drops reported. Of the top 50 news websites, 37 encountered year-over-year traffic reductions. This decline persists despite significant news events. Commentary from industry leaders indicates that Google's new AI products are affecting news traffic and that ongoing SEO changes complicate the situation for publishers, ultimately threatening the future of quality journalism.
Visits to major US news websites have plummeted since Google rolled out its artificial intelligence search feature last year, with some plunging 40%, according to troubling new data. Of the top 50 news domains, 37 suffered year-over-year traffic declines after the launch of Google's AI Overviews last May, according to SimilarWeb. The drastic dropoff comes despite headline-grabbing events that included the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last summer and his stunning election victory over Kamala Harris a few months later.
'The data absolutely shows the new AI products Google has announced are affecting news publishers' traffic,' Danielle Coffey, President and CEO of News/Media Alliance, stated. 'On top of all the SEO changes that have decreased traffic recently in traditional search, this is certain to negatively impact our ability to invest in quality journalism.'
Forbes and HuffPost were the hardest hit, each losing 40% of their traffic, while DailyMail.com plunged 32% and CNN.com fell 28%, according to SimilarWeb. The Post and sister publication Wall Street Journal suffered declines of 27% and 17%, respectively, the data showed. Fox News.com fell 24%.
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