AI Overviews Are Killing Good Sites — And The Open Web With Them
In a previous article, I talked about Google’s record quarter and the angst it caused media creators. This frustration wasn’t over Google’s success, but how much of that success came directly from AI Overviews (AIOs) keeping traffic on Google instead of sending it to publishers.
Creators and publishers across the internet looked at Google’s $100 billion earnings and stated the quiet part out loud:
“That profit came from our content—but our traffic disappeared.”
Let’s look at real, immediate examples of how AI Overviews are reshaping the economics of search and dismantling entire businesses.
The New Zero-Click Internet
Search used to be a highway. Now, it’s a cul-de-sac. AI Overviews scrape, rewrite, and serve information directly on Google’s page, creating a catastrophic zero-click ecosystem. Google keeps the user and captures the value. Publishers are left with charts showing their traffic falling off a cliff.
The most shocking part? These aren’t low-quality content farms losing rank—they are trusted experts, journalists, researchers, and niche industry authorities.
The Casualty List: Who AI Overviews Are Killing
Here is documented evidence of the value extraction currently underway:
These are the very sites users relied on for real testing, expert guidance, and personal experience—now replaced by AI paraphrasing.
Legal Battles & Antitrust Claims
Public companies don’t file lawsuits unless the damage is existential.
Chegg (EdTech): Filed a lawsuit against Google following a 49% revenue decline.
Penske Media (owner of Rolling Stone, Variety, Billboard): Filed an antitrust suit citing a 33% affiliate revenue loss.
Independent Publisher Alliance (EU): Filed an EU antitrust complaint documenting massive traffic and revenue harm.
This Is Not an “SEO Issue” — It’s Value Extraction
Let’s put an end to the gaslighting:
This is not “low-quality content losing rank.” This is not “publishers need better SEO.”
This is Google repackaging publisher content inside AI answers. This is Google capturing the user before the click ever happens.
The clicks didn’t vanish—Google kept them. The Open Web isn’t dying; it’s being absorbed. We’ve seen this platform playbook before: “Build here, we’ll reward you.” Creators build the value, the platform changes the rules, and the platform wins.
Google is no longer pointing people to the internet; it is becoming the internet’s front page and final destination.
What Happens Next
Regulators & Courts Wake Up: This will inevitably become the next big tech antitrust fight, centering on AI-powered self-preferencing.
AIO Replaces SEO: The new publisher playbook is to optimize for AIO context and citations, feed structured data directly to Large Language Models (LLMs), and build direct audience channels via email and community. SEO isn’t dead—it has mutated.
Publisher Bifurcation: The industry will split sharply.
Final Word
Google built its empire on the open web and on the backs of independent publishers. Now, AI Overviews rewrite their expertise, keep users on Google, and starve the very ecosystem that made search great.
AIO is critical now for good content sites. Publishers must focus on showing up as valuable content sources on other LLMs to diversify away from Google, and they need to enable commerce where applicable within those LLM experiences to regain lost revenue.
The future belongs to those who adapt to AIO, build direct loyalty, and diversify discovery—or to regulators who decide this era of AI extraction needs limits. Because right now, the open web isn’t fading—it’s being absorbed by the platform that once promised to organize it.