Report: AI Summaries Reduce News Clickthrough Nearly 80%

A recent analysis by a digital analytics firm is cautioning news media companies that online audiences are not clicking through to articles due to the impact of AI generated summaries, The Guardian reported on Thursday.

An assessment of Google's AI Overviews by Authoritas analytics, found that AI summaries have created nearly 80% fewer clickthroughs with insiders viewing the trend as an "existential threat" to media outlets who rely on search result traffic.

AI summaries appear after keywords are entered in a search and are above any sourced links used to create the summary. The original links are moved further down the page, lessening the number of users that click on them. This has resulted in sites that were previously ranked first to lose 79% of their traffic for links that came below an AI summary.

In response to the findings, a Google spokesperson told the outlet that the report was inaccurate and based on" flawed assumptions and analysis," and used outdated methodology. "People are gravitating to AI-powered experiences, and AI features in search enable people to ask even more questions, creating new opportunities for websites to be discovered," the spokesperson said. "We continue to send billions of clicks to websites every day, and we have not seen dramatic drops in aggregate web traffic as is being suggested."

Owen Meredith, the chief executive of the News Media Association, accused the search giant of attempting to force users "within its own walled garden, taking and monetizing valuable content – including news – created by the hard work of others."

"The situation as it stands is entirely unsustainable and will ultimately result in the death of quality information online," he said. "The Competition and Markets Authority has the toolkit to tackle these issues. It must do so urgently." The Competition and Markets Authority works to promote competive markets and address unfair practices in the United Kingdom.

Rosa Curling, the director of Foxglove, agreed saying the report shows the "devasting impact" of Google's AI summaries. "It would be bad enough if Google were simply stealing journalists' work and passing it off as their own," she said. "But worse still, they are using this work to fuel their own tools and profits, while making it harder for media outlets to reach the readers they rely on to sustain their work."

AI's threat to traditional news media arrives as global leaders continue to urge technology firms to proceed with caution with the burgeoning technology. Following his election by the papal conclave earlier in the month, Pope Leo XIV labelled AI as the critical challenge facing humanity as he begins his tenue saying it will require "responsibility and discernment" to deploy AI's "immense potential" to benefit rather than degrade humankind.