The news: Publishers have not yet seen any significant decline in traffic due to the introduction of Google‘S AI Overviewsaccording to the second quarter results of The New York TimesIAC (parent company of Dotdash Meredith), And Ziff Davis.
- A Dotdash analysis found that AI answers were only provided in 15% of the largest search categories and the negative impact on traffic was “negligible.”
- Ziff Davis, which primarily owns technology, gaming and entertainment news sites, found that only 8% of top search queries were provided with AI answers. The company does not see any significant change in the search experience in the overviews.
- The New York Times did not mention AI Overviews in its Q2 earnings report and saw a significant profit jump of 41%The company added 300,000 digital subscribers in the second quarter and saw digital advertising revenue increase 7.8%.
Crisis averted? Probably not: Before the AI Overviews were widely released in May, there was speculation that publishers Search traffic drops by up to 60%and thus represents a further existential threat to the publishing industry, which is increasingly facing challenges.
But while the first quarter of AI Overviews did not significantly impact traffic for some publishers, but that does not mean that it will not be a major threat in the long run.
- AI Overviews suffered a chaotic start with answers recommending eating rocks and staring at the sun, prompting Google to slow its rollout somewhat. AI Overviews only appeared in 15% of searches in May, according to BrightEdge, but Google has made it clear that it considers the product the future of its search experience, meaning it will likely expand to previously untouched search categories.
- Despite its claims, Ziff Davis may be more vulnerable to AI Overviews than Dotdash Meredith. The latter publishes on a wide range of topics, while Ziff Davis primarily publishes technology and gaming news – both categories rely heavily on search traffic for how-tos and product recommendations, which could easily be disrupted by AI Overviews.
- The New York Times also differs from Dotdash Meredith, Ziff Davis and most publishers – its position as an industry leader and its diversified revenues isolate it a bit from the downturn in the publishing industry.
Our opinion: AI Overviews may not have an impact on publisher traffic yet, but there is still a looming cloud on the horizon. As Google rolls out the product more widely, publishers could still see significant traffic drops, which could lead advertisers to spend their money elsewhere.
