Google AI Overviews and AI Mode upended publisher traffic, The Verge says

The Verge's weekly newsletter The Stepback, which breaks down one story from the tech world each week, looks at how Google's AI search features have changed the economics of online publishing. Its starting point is the old bargain: publishers spent years and money optimizing pages to rank on Google, filled its index with content, and got exposure and traffic in return. The newsletter says the launch of AI search, together with changes to how Google ranks results, has made it harder for publishers to survive on Google traffic alone.

In 2024 Google rolled out AI Overviews, which put an AI-generated summary of pages from across the web at the top of Search, with links to the sources the system judges most useful placed below it. Publishers, the piece says, went from competing for clicks on the first page to depending on an AI system with no guarantee that users would click through to the source. The News/Media Alliance warned early that the feature would be "catastrophic" to web traffic. A 2024 Press Gazette investigation found AI Overviews appeared for almost a quarter of news-related searches in May 2024, and by August the outlet found they had begun replacing media sites that previously held top spots for certain queries. In May 2025 Google launched AI Mode, which replaces the standard search engine with a chatbot-like interface giving detailed summaries drawn from web results.

The newsletter says the Alliance's fears proved real and that traffic to online publishers tanked after the launch. It cites several reports. A June 2025 Wall Street Journal report showed traffic to Business Insider, The Washington Post, HuffPost and the WSJ itself declining since 2022. Similarweb data, as reported by the WSJ, suggested search traffic to The New York Times fell from 44 percent to 35.5 percent in three years. Digiday reported that, between May and June 2025, 19 members of the trade association Digital Content Next (DCN) lost Google traffic, by 1 to 25 percent. DCN represents outlets such as Bloomberg, The Associated Press, The New York Times, Condé Nast and Vox Media. DMG Media, owner of the Daily Mail and Metro, told the UK Competition and Markets Authority that click-through rates fell by up to 89 percent between June and July 2025, which it attributed to AI Overviews. Pew Research found that people are "less likely" to click links to other sites when they see an AI Overview.

Google's account is different. Last year, Google Search head Liz Reid said click volume from search stayed "relatively stable" and that AI search sends more clicks to different kinds of sites, especially those with forums, videos, podcasts and posts from other users. Nick Fox, Google's senior vice president of knowledge and information, told the BBC: "From our point of view, the web is thriving."

Publishers around the world have also sued, claiming the AI features hurt their traffic, but many suits have failed. US District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed an antitrust case brought by Chegg and Penske Media, which owns Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and The Verge. The same judge rejected a proposed class action over AI Overviews filed by Arkansas newspapers.

On what comes next, the piece says publishers are leaning on social media, newsletters and subscriptions. Others use a toggle, broadly rolled out by Google after an order from the UK, that lets them opt out of AI Mode and AI Overviews without losing visibility in search; the article says this still does not fix sinking traffic. Publisher pushback appears to have produced changes: sources are more prominent, with a pop-up of articles and images when hovering over a link, and in-line links appear "higher up in responses more frequently." The newsletter expects Google to keep adjusting how it shows sources and to look for ways to compensate publishers. Google says 400 publishers, including The Washington Post, CNN, Axios and the Financial Times, are in its News AI pilot program, which licenses content to develop new AI features. Per reports from The Information and Digiday, Google is also testing a program that pays publishers for use of their content in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Whether that is enough to repair the relationship remains to be seen.

The issue also lists three side items. AI Overviews have started to expand automatically for some queries instead of waiting for a "Show more" click, pushing blue links further down. The WSJ reports that Reddit is considering cutting off Google because of falling traffic. And the nonprofit Common Sense Media claims the summaries pose an "unacceptable" risk to kids by failing to respond appropriately to children in crisis.

Key facts

Google launched AI Overviews in 2024 and AI Mode in May 2025; The Verge says they, plus ranking changes, have made it harder for publishers to survive on Google traffic alone.
Cited figures: Similarweb data shows NYT search traffic falling from 44 percent to 35.5 percent in three years; 19 DCN members lost 1 to 25 percent of Google traffic between May and June 2025; DMG Media told the UK CMA click-through rates fell by up to 89 percent between June and July 2025.
Google disputes the picture: Liz Reid said clicks were "relatively stable", and Nick Fox told the BBC "the web is thriving."
Many publisher lawsuits have failed; Judge Amit Mehta dismissed the Chegg and Penske Media antitrust case and an Arkansas newspapers class action over AI Overviews.
Google says 400 publishers are in its News AI pilot, and it is reportedly testing payments to publishers for use of their content in AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Why it matters

For years, search traffic was the basic trade between Google and publishers: content for the index, clicks in return. The Verge argues AI Overviews and AI Mode break that trade by answering queries at the top of the page, so readers have less reason to visit the source. The piece treats this as a structural shift, not a passing dip, and notes that Google's AI Mode replaces the standard results with a chatbot-like interface.

Who it affects

News and media publishers first: the piece names Business Insider, The Washington Post, HuffPost, the WSJ, The New York Times, and DCN members such as Bloomberg, The Associated Press, Condé Nast and Vox Media, plus DMG Media (Daily Mail and Metro). It also touches Reddit, which the WSJ reports is considering cutting off Google, and children's safety groups, since Common Sense Media calls the summaries an "unacceptable" risk to kids.

How to use it

This is a briefing, not a product, but it lists what publishers are doing. Many lean on social media, newsletters and subscriptions to reach readers and earn money. Some use the toggle that lets them opt out of AI Mode and AI Overviews without losing search visibility; the article says it does not fix sinking traffic. Google says 400 publishers, including The Washington Post, CNN, Axios and the Financial Times, are in its News AI pilot program, which licenses content to develop new AI features.

How solid is it

The article is a newsletter column in The Verge's own voice, built on other outlets' reporting: Press Gazette, the WSJ, Similarweb data, Digiday, a DMG Media submission to the UK CMA, and Pew Research. The figures are not directly comparable: they cover different outlets and different periods. The New York Times figure is given without saying what the percentages are a share of, and DMG's 89 percent is an upper bound ("up to"), not an average. The article gives no industry-wide decline figure. Google's side is represented through Liz Reid and Nick Fox. Reports of a payment program come from The Information and Digiday, not from Google.

Risks and caveats

The Verge's own parent-group link is worth noting: Penske Media, which owns The Verge, was a plaintiff in the antitrust case that Judge Mehta dismissed. The traffic declines are reported by third parties and Google disputes the overall picture. The forecast that Google will keep changing how it shows sources and find ways to pay publishers is the newsletter's own expectation, marked "likely". Whether the reported paying program will be enough to repair Google's relationship with publishers is, in the article's words, still to be seen.

“From our point of view, the web is thriving.”

— Nick Fox, Google's senior vice president of knowledge and information, to the BBC