Publishers Battle AI Summaries Stealing Their Online Clicks and Cash

Newspapers and media publishers are facing a new challenge as Google introduces AI summaries at the top of its search results. These AI Overviews give users a quick summary of news stories, which means fewer people are clicking through to the original articles on newspaper websites. For instance, when actress Sorcha Cusack left the BBC drama Father Brown, newspapers like The Mirror and the Daily Express expected a lot of online traffic. However, the number of readers was much lower than before, and publishers believe this is because people are satisfied with the AI summary and do not feel the need to read the full story.

This trend is worrying for publishers because online traffic is crucial for their revenue. Many newspapers have already lost advertising money to social media platforms, and Google search has been a key source of visitors. Now, with AI Overviews, publishers are seeing a significant drop in click-through rates. DMG Media, which owns MailOnline and Metro, reported that their click-through rates fell by as much as 89 percent. David Higgerson, a digital publisher at Reach, says that publishers create the content that Google uses, but they are not getting paid when people only read the summary. He believes this is another example of tech companies benefiting from the work of others without sharing the profits.

Some publishers are taking legal action, asking the UK's Competition and Markets Authority to stop Google from using their content in AI-generated responses without fair compensation. Meanwhile, publishers are trying to figure out how to get their stories featured in AI Overviews and attract more clicks. They are experimenting with different ways to write and present their content, hoping to be cited by Google. Others are building relationships with readers through newsletters and alerts on platforms like WhatsApp. The goal is to make their websites and brands more appealing so that people choose to visit them directly, rather than relying on AI summaries. Google, on the other hand, claims that it is still sending billions of clicks to websites and that the quality of those clicks has improved. The debate continues as publishers look for new strategies to survive in the changing digital landscape.