Overview

• Similarweb data shows that traffic to sites such as HuffPost, the Washington Post and Business Insider has dropped by more than 50% in three years.
• Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode deliver chat-style summaries that bypass blue links and cut referrals to publishers’ websites.
• News outlets have responded with major layoffs, including Business Insider’s 21% staff reduction and broader industry losses of one in ten journalism jobs.
• Publishers are accelerating investments in newsletters, events and paywalls to cultivate direct reader relationships and alternative revenue.
• Publishers have inked content licensing deals with AI companies such as Amazon and OpenAI, and U.S. regulators are advancing antitrust actions against Google’s search practices.