WThe chief executive of the Financial Times suggested this summer at a media conference that competing publishers might explore a “NATO” alliance to bolster negotiations with artificial intelligence firms.
Nevertheless, John Slade’s announcement regarding a “pretty sudden, sustained” drop in traffic from readers via search engines quickly highlighted the grave threat posed by the AI revolution.
Queries submitted on platforms like Google, which dominate over 90% of the search market, have been central to online journalism since its inception, with news outlets optimizing their headlines and content to secure high rankings and lucrative clicks.
Currently, Google’s AI summary appears at the top of the results page, presenting answers directly and reducing the need for users to click through to the original content. The introduction of the AI mode tab, which responds to queries in a chatbot format, has sparked fears of a future dominated by “Google Zero,” where referral traffic dwindles.
“This is the most significant change in search I’ve witnessed in decades,” states a senior editorial tech executive. “Google has historically been a reliable partner for publishers. Now, certain aspects of digital publishing are evolving in ways that could fundamentally alter the landscape.”
Last week, the owner of the Daily Mail revealed that the AI summary was officially in place following Click-Through traffic to a competitive market review of Google’s search services.
DMG Media and other major news organizations, including the Guardian Media Group and the Magazine Trade Body, the PPA, have advocated for the competitive watchdog. Urge Google for more transparency regarding AI summaries and traffic metrics provided to publishers as part of an investigation into tech company search monopolies.
Publishers are already experiencing financial strain from rising costs, declining advertising revenue, reduced print circulation, and changing readership trends. Google insists that they must accept agreements regarding how their content is utilized in AI systems or face the loss of all search results.
Besides the funding threat, concerns about AI’s impact on accuracy persist. Historical iterations advised users to consume harmful items, and although Google has since enhanced its summaries, the issue of “hallucinations” — where AI presents inaccurate or fabricated information as truth — remains, alongside inherent biases when machines, not humans, interpret sources.
Google Discover has supplanted search with content as the primary source of traffic clicks. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
In January, Apple pledged to improve its AI feature that summarized BBC News alerts with the company’s logo on the latest iPhone model. The alert misleadingly stated that a man accused of murdering a US insurance executive had taken his own life and falsely claimed that tennis star Rafael Nadal had come out as gay.
Last month, in a blog post, Liz Reid, Google’s search manager, claimed that AI had not yet been integrated into searches. “Driving more queries and quality clicks”.
“This data contradicts third-party reports that inaccurately suggest a drastic reduction in overall traffic,” she stated. “[These reports] are often based on flawed methodologies, isolated instances, or traffic alterations that occurred prior to the deployment of AI functionalities during searches.”
She also mentioned that overall traffic to all websites remains “relatively stable,” though “spacious” webs mean that user trends are redirecting traffic to different sites.
Recently, Google Discover, which delivers articles and videos tailored to user behavior, has taken precedence over search as the main source of traffic.
However, David Buttle, founder of DJB Strategy, stated that the services linked to publisher search transactions do not supply the quality traffic most publishers require to support their long-term strategies.
“Google Discover holds no product significance for Google,” he explained. “As traffic from general search diminishes, Google can concentrate more traffic on publishers. Publishers are left with no choice but to comply or face losing organic search, which often rewards ClickBaity content.”
Simultaneously, publishers are engaged in a broader struggle against AI companies looking to exploit content to train extensive language models.
The creative sector is rigorously lobbying the government to prevent AI firms from using copyrighted materials without authorization, urging for legislation.
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The February Make It Fair campaign highlighted threats to the creative sector posed by Generative AI. Photo: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex
Some publishers have reacted against bilateral licensing agreements with AI companies, including the Financial Times, German media group Axel Springer, the Guardian, and Nordic publisher Schibsted. Others, like the BBC, have initiated actions against AI companies for alleged copyright infringement.
“It’s a double-edged attack on publishers, almost a ‘Pinker move’,” remarks Chris Duncan, a senior executive at News UK and Bauer Media, also leading the consultancy Seadelta. “Content is vanishing into AI products without appropriate compensation, while AI summaries are embedded within products, negating the need for clicks and effectively draining revenue from both ends. It’s an existential crisis.”
Publishers are pursuing various courses of action, from negotiations and litigation to regulatory lobbying, while also integrating AI tools into their newsrooms, as seen with the Washington Post and Financial Times launching their AI-powered chatbots and solutions for climate inquiries.
Christoph Zimmer, chief product officer at Germany’s Der Spiegel, notes that while current traffic remains steady, he anticipates a decline in referrals from all platforms.
“This is part of a longstanding trend,” he states. “However, it has affected brands that haven’t prioritized direct audience relationships or subscription growth in recent years, instead depending on broad content reach.”
“What has always been true remains valid. Prioritizing quality and diverse content is essential; it’s about connecting with people, not merely chasing algorithms.”
Publication industry leaders emphasize that efforts to negotiate deals for AI models to aggregate and summarize news are rapidly being replaced by advancements in models interpreting live news updates.
“The initial focus was on licensing arrangements for AI training to ‘speak English,’ but that will become less relevant over time,” asserts an executive. “We’re transitioning towards providing news directly. To achieve this, we require precise, live sources — a potentially lucrative market publishers are keen to explore next.”
PPA CEO Saj Merali emphasizes the need for a fair equilibrium between technology-induced changes in consumer digital behavior and the just compensation for trustworthy news.
“What remains at the core is something consumers require,” she explains. “AI needs credible content. There’s a shift in how consumers prefer to access information, but they must have confidence in what they read.”
“The industry has historically shown resilience through significant digital and technological transitions, yet it is crucial to ensure pathways that sustain business models. At this point, the AI and tech sectors have shown no commitment to support publishers’ revenue.”
Source: www.theguardian.com
