The Guardian published an analytical piece on September 6, 2025, describing the situation in online journalism as an "existential crisis" following the implementation of the "AI Overviews" feature in Google Search. The core of the problem is that AI-generated summaries provide users with a direct answer on the search results page by synthesizing information from articles. As a result, users no longer need to click through to the publishers websites. This leads to a catastrophic drop in referral traffic, which is the foundation of the online media business model, driving revenue from advertising and subscriptions. The article cites data indicating that some publishers have already experienced a 25-30% or greater decline in traffic from Google. This situation threatens the very existence of many news organizations and exacerbates the already complex negotiations between tech giants and content creators over fair compensation.
The Guardian: Googles AI Has Caused an "Existential Crisis" for News Publishers
