Google's AI summaries endanger the future of independent news!

Google's AI summaries endanger the future of independent news!

The digital world is currently all about the visual consequences of artificial intelligence, especially when it comes to creating content. A current report by The Guardian emphasizes a The enormous challenge for the online news industry. According to a study, the traffic on news websites could drop to a frightening extent, since up to 80% fewer users actually click on the original content.

The problem arises from Google’s new AI overviews that summarize search results in summary and thus push traditional links down. According to the analysis of authoritas, it is not uncommon for websites that are listed first to lose up to 79% of their traffic if their links are weakened by these summaries. Instead, links to platforms such as YouTube, which are owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, stand out and attract the attention of the users.

The effects on the news industry

The effects of these developments are alarming. The study shows that under an AI overview, users only click every 100 clicks on a link, which leads to a significant decline in visitor numbers. Another report by the Pew Research Center confirms that only 8% of the users who see such a summary click on a classic link - a dramatic decline compared to the significantly higher click rates in traditional search results.

The statistics are amazing: In over a quarter of the search with an AI summary, users no longer click on the left. In contrast, this quota for classic search results is only 16%. These trends were not only observed in the United States; British publishers, such as MailOnline, also report a decline in clicks, with decreases of 56.1% on desktop and 48.2% on mobile devices.

The legal consequences

These disturbing trends have led to a legal complaint against Google was submitted to the British competitive supervisory authority. News about the situation also come from Owen Meredith, a representative of the News Media Association, which accuses Google to monetize content created by others. Rosa Curling from the organization Foxglove emphasizes the associated negative effects on the independent news industry in the United Kingdom.

Google itself comments on the allegations: A spokesman describes the study as inaccurate and relies on outdated estimates. The company also argues that new AI functions actually offer new opportunities for the discovery of websites and still lead billions of clicks to various websites every day.

The further development of AI in the media sector