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Google's AI Overviews threaten billions in publisher revenue, documents show
Google reportedly considered offering publishers more control but scrapped these plans due to perceived technical challenges and costs, opting instead for a quiet policy change allowing content, even from those previously opted out via Google-Extended, to be used for features like AI Overviews.
This performance rebalancing comes amid product momentum for Google, with successful rollouts like Gemini 2.5 Pro and the Cloud Next suite and reflects a broader strategy to align compensation more directly with impact.(Photo: Unsplash)
Google's deepening integration of artificial intelligence into its search engine is igniting alarms among publishers, with court documents revealing the tech giant intentionally denied them an opt-out for AI training while still appearing in search results, as per reports.
Internal documents, unsealed during an ongoing antitrust trial, reportedly show Google considered offering publishers more control, including consent or opt-out options for AI model training. However, the company reportedly scrapped these plans due to perceived technical challenges and costs, opting instead for a quiet policy change allowing content, even from those previously opted out via Google-Extended, to be used for features like AI Overviews, reports have revealed.
AI Overviews, Google's instant, AI-generated search summaries, have sparked major concerns for publishers. They fear a "zero-click" problem, where users bypass their websites, leading to estimated traffic drops of 20% to 60%. Publishing platform Raptive projects this could translate to up to $2 billion in annual industry ad revenue losses, with smaller websites already experiencing over half their traffic vanish since AI Overviews launched.
Publishers face a stark dilemma: Google commands over 90% of the search market, making invisibility on its platform untenable. Many are thus forced to accept their content fueling the very AI tools threatening their existence.
Google maintains publishers retain control over search appearance and that AI has long been part of search. The company also downplayed the internal memo as an early draft. However, testimony from Google DeepMind VP Eli Collins confirmed opted-out content is indeed used in AI Overviews, deepening transparency and consent concerns.
This issue is now central to Google's antitrust case. Judge Amit Mehta is reviewing remedies, including a proposal to allow publishers to opt out of AI Overviews without impacting search rankings – a move Google has resisted, leaving publishers caught between content control and search visibility.
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