Google's ai shift: is it killing online news?
For over two decades, the internet as we know it was built on the backs of millions of websites, blogs, and media outlets. Google, initially an ally—a powerful engine indexing their content and driving traffic—is now accused of systematically dismantling the very ecosystem it helped create. The implications are staggering, threatening the future of online journalism and potentially reshaping the digital landscape as we know it.
A seismic shift in search results
This isn't a simple algorithm tweak or a gradual evolution toward artificial intelligence. It's a fundamental rule change, and it’s hitting publishers hard. Instead of showcasing valuable, external content, Google’s search results are increasingly dominated by sponsored advertisements and AI-generated summaries drawn directly from the web—effectively preventing users from clicking through to the original source. The financial consequences are brutal.
The shift began in the US, raising early alarms, but it has since swept across Europe, with devastating impact. Veteran publications like Noxvo, boasting two decades of online presence and recognized brands like Fórmula TV, have announced closures. Pronto magazine has shuttered its website entirely, pivoting solely to print. Major European publisher Webedia has already closed over ten sites—including popular platforms like Genbeta, Bebés, Xataka Android—a grim testament to the scale of the disruption.
The numbers paint a stark picture. Many small and medium-sized websites are reporting traffic drops of 60% to 80% in just weeks—a digital erasure of established projects with loyal audiences and years of carefully cultivated content. ADSLZone, a tech publication with over two decades of daily reporting, describes a near-total evaporation of its traffic. “We weren’t better than we are now,” states Javier Sanz, Founder and CEO of ADSLZone, “Google simply changed the game.”
The ai content grab
The problem deepens with the rise of Google’s AI. Users are increasingly presented with direct answers within the search engine itself, eliminating the need to click through to external websites. Evergreen content—guides, tutorials, comparisons—is being absorbed, rewritten, and served up directly by AI, effectively cutting off the original publisher’s revenue stream. ChatGPT and similar tools exacerbate the issue, also diverting traffic and repurposing content without attribution.
It’s a blatant expropriation of third-party content, a digital heist that demands scrutiny from European regulators. The current model is perverse: Google claims to support media outlets while simultaneously undermining their ability to survive.
Discover: from tool to manipulated lottery
Google’s “Discover” feature, initially intended as a personalized content recommendation tool, has devolved into an erratic and increasingly commercialized platform. Users are bombarded with irrelevant content from unfamiliar sources, while sites they regularly visit disappear from their feeds. The editorial logic has been replaced by an opaque algorithm that even its creators struggle to understand, transforming Discover into a pay-to-play platform for brands.
The future of content & journalism
The consequences extend far beyond mere traffic loss. Reduced income leads to fewer resources for content creation, resulting in a poorer, less informative internet populated by AI-generated content. The question looming large is: what happens when creating content becomes unprofitable? If thousands of websites vanish, what will feed the AI that powers Google’s search engine? While some publications might survive on government funding, specialized websites, independent blogs, and online communities face extinction unless swift action is taken.
Google isn’t innovating; it’s rewriting the rules of the digital economy to its own benefit—at the expense of countless jobs and the vibrancy of the online ecosystem. The silence from Google on this critical point is deafening.