“Publishers – already under financial pressure from soaring costs, falling advertising revenues, the decline of print and the wider trend of readers turning away from news – argue that they are effectively being forced by Google to either accept deals, including on how content is used in AI Overview and AI Mode, or “drop out of all search results”, according to several sources.”
– Mark Sweney
The Guardian reports how several news executives feel under seige from two directions – AI-generated content that doesn’t compensate them for source information plus declining search referals given the comprehensive summaries by the same models. Traffic inbound to news sites from online search has been a lucrative income source for a journalism industry still adjusting to shifts in audience to online consumption.
‘Existential crisis’: how Google’s shift to AI has upended the online news model | THE GUARDIAN | September 6, 2025 | by Mark Sweney