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Google AI Overviews Reduce Clicks to News Websites
Google AI Summaries Cause News Traffic Drop – Google’s AI-generated summaries, known as AI Overviews, have sparked controversy in the European Union after a coalition of independent publishers filed an antitrust complaint. The Independent Publishers Alliance accuses Google of abusing its dominant position in online search by promoting AI summaries that reduce traffic to original news websites, potentially causing “irreparable harm” to the publishing industry.
AI Overviews: A Threat to News Publishers?
The complaint, submitted on June 30, argues that Google’s core search engine service unfairly uses web content to generate AI Overviews, which appear at the top of search results and offer users summaries instead of directing them to the original news sources. According to the alliance, this practice has caused a steep decline in traffic, readership, and revenue for news publishers.
Data from digital intelligence firm SimilarWeb supports these concerns, revealing that 37 of the top 50 US news sites have suffered year-over-year traffic drops since the AI Overviews feature launched in May 2024. Additionally, “zero-click” searches—where users don’t click any link—have surged from 56% to 69% in related news searches within a year.
Google’s Market Dominance Under Scrutiny
The EU’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed receiving the complaint and recently proposed designating Google with strategic market status in the UK’s search sector. This designation would empower regulators to impose targeted measures on how Google operates its search services.
Google’s AI Overviews are now available in over 100 countries, and ads were introduced to these summaries in May 2025, further increasing their impact on user behavior and publisher revenues.
Publishers Demand Control Over Their Content
Publishers criticize Google for giving them no choice to opt out of having their content used to train AI models or to generate AI summaries, without risking a drop in their search rankings. This lack of control, they argue, deepens the unfair advantage Google enjoys by using publisher content to boost its own AI features.
The complaint is backed by other groups like Movement for an Open Web and the UK nonprofit Foxglove Legal Community Interest Company. Tim Cowen, co-founder of Movement for an Open Web, called AI Overviews “theft from the publishing industry,” accusing Google of stealing content and traffic without compensation.
Foxglove’s co-executive director, Rosa Curling, described AI Overviews as an “existential threat” to independent journalism and urged regulators worldwide to allow publishers to opt out.
Google’s Defense and Industry Impact
Google defends AI Overviews as a tool that helps users find information quickly and claims it still sends billions of clicks to websites daily. The company also states that traffic changes can be caused by multiple factors, including seasonal trends and regular search algorithm updates.
Nonetheless, the complaint reflects broader concerns about the role of AI in reshaping online content consumption and the power balance between tech giants and content creators.
Global Antitrust Pressure on Google
This EU complaint echoes a recent US lawsuit by an education technology firm, which also alleges that Google’s AI Overviews reduce demand for original content and harm publishers’ competitive position.
Google faces multiple antitrust investigations worldwide. The company is currently appealing a $4.7 billion fine from the European Commission over alleged Android dominance abuse. The EU is also investigating Google’s activities in digital advertising and search markets.
In the US, a federal judge ruled in August 2024 that Google violated antitrust laws by maintaining monopolies through exclusive deals, including partnerships with Apple. A verdict on potential remedies, which could involve breaking up Google, is expected soon.
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