Major publishers, including Reddit, USA Today, Politico, and The Economist, are reportedly considering blocking Google’s access to their content for AI use. This follows significant search traffic drops due to AI Overviews. Some are weighing complete crawler blocks via noindex tags, a major escalation. Reddit, which has a $60 million deal with Google, is discussing shutting off access. Publishers seek better economic terms as AI summaries reduce clicks. Google states its AI sends billions of clicks weekly and offers controls. Blocking could affect traditional search rankings too. The move reflects growing frustration with AI cannibalizing referral traffic. Publishers aim to negotiate better deals or protect revenue as AI reshapes discovery.
Major publishers, including Reddit, USA Today, Politico, and The Economist, are reportedly considering blocking Google’s access to their content for AI use. This follows significant search traffic drops due to AI Overviews. Some are weighing complete crawler blocks via noindex tags, a major escalation. Reddit, which has a $60 million deal with Google, is discussing shutting off access. Publishers seek better economic terms as AI summaries reduce clicks. Google states its AI sends billions of clicks weekly and offers controls. Blocking could affect traditional search rankings too. The move reflects growing frustration with AI cannibalizing referral traffic. Publishers aim to negotiate better deals or protect revenue as AI reshapes discovery.