News websites around the world are experiencing a substantial decrease in visitors from Google searches compared to the previous year, according to recent data.
A company named Chartbeat analyzed traffic figures from 2,756 news websites globally, including 797 in the United States. Their findings indicate that Google search traffic declined by 33% worldwide and 38% in America over the past twelve months. This information was shared in a report by the University of Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
AI Overviews May Be Driving the Decline
A significant factor contributing to this traffic reduction appears to be Google's implementation of AI Overview search results. These AI-generated summaries are presented at the top of search pages, providing users with several paragraphs of information. Consequently, users may need to perform additional clicks to access links to the original sources that Google utilized for these AI-generated answers.
This observed drop is considerably more severe than figures reported by another industry group. Digital Context Next stated in August that Google search traffic to their member websites had decreased by approximately 10%.
Nic Newman, a senior research associate at the Reuters Institute, commented that experts are uncertain about the precise extent to which the traffic loss can be directly attributed to AI overviews. He also noted that different types of news websites might experience varying impacts. Interestingly, charts tracking US traffic showed increases for several months following Google's launch of the AI search feature.
Newman explained that Google has largely excluded AI overviews from hard news topics, possibly due to the system's occasional generation of inaccurate information, known as hallucinations. Websites focusing on lifestyle content, such as weather forecasts, television schedules, or horoscopes, appear more susceptible to traffic loss.
In response, Google has expressed skepticism regarding the findings. The company issued a statement asserting that their internal data does not reflect the sharp declines reported. Google raised questions about the selection of websites included in Chartbeat's study and referenced an August report from the same company that indicated stable search traffic to news sites.
Google also pointed out that the study omitted traffic numbers from Google News, a detail noted in the fine print beneath each chart. The company highlighted recent enhancements, including a new feature that allows users to select Preferred Sources within Google News and ongoing efforts to improve the visibility of links in AI-generated results.
Social Media Traffic Also Falling Sharply
The data from Chartbeat also reveals a concerning trend in traffic from other sources. Traffic from Google Discover has fallen by 21% globally and 29% in the United States. Google Discover presents suggested links when Android phone users swipe from left to right on their screens. This is significant because Google Discover now directs more visitors to news sites than regular Google searches. Chartbeat found that Discover accounts for 13% of referral traffic worldwide, compared to only 7.3% from Google search.
Social media platforms are also contributing fewer readers to news websites. Since May 2023, traffic from Facebook has decreased by 43% globally and 35% in America. Traffic from X has experienced an even faster decline, dropping 46% worldwide and 45% in the United States.
These statistics present a challenging scenario for news organizations that rely on external platforms to drive readership to their websites.