Several major publishers are seriously considering blocking Google Search altogether due to the continuing decline in clicks originating from Google Search. The value exchange—where Google consumes content in return for search traffic—seems no longer to be paying off enough to justify their participation.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, outlets such as USA Today, Politico, Reuters, The Economist, People, and possibly Reddit are exploring what might happen if they simply prevent Google from crawling their sites.
Here are some key points from the report:
– USA Today’s CEO, Mike Reed, stated, “It’s time to take a stand and say enough is enough.”
– Employees at Politico are discussing limiting Google’s and other bots’ access to their free articles.
– Reuters, which earns a significant portion of its revenue from B2B services, is evaluating whether to block Google’s bot from its consumer news platform as traffic diminishes. Reuters President Paul Bascobert noted, “We’re certainly weighing the economic trade-offs between search and AI summaries.”
– Josh Muncke, VP of generative AI at The Economist, said, “The question is whether we should do this and what the implications are of blocking or not blocking.” He added, “Exiting Google entirely isn’t on the table right now. Google remains a powerful, if unpredictable, force. Traffic is inconsistent and declining, but it’s still traffic.”
– Neil Vogel, CEO of People Inc., mentioned, “Turning them off and blocking them completely is definitely something we’re considering.”
– Mark Howard, COO of Time, commented, “We now see two audiences: How do we best serve the human visitors when they come, and how do we treat bots as a secondary audience?”
– Reddit is also contemplating shutting off Google’s access to its content for AI purposes amid ongoing discussions.
A chart from WSJ, based on Semrush data, highlights the decline in Google Search traffic for these publishers, illustrating the extent of the downturn.
This situation follows the New York Times’ recent publication on how Google’s AI-driven search features might threaten the open web. Google executives have been touting the billions of weekly clicks generated by AI search tools, but the tension remains as publishers reassess their relationships with Google. Additionally, Reddit’s content deal with Google is up for renewal, adding to the uncertainty.
In fact, Reddit’s recent internal discussions suggest they are considering cutting Google’s access to their content for AI use, especially as traffic numbers continue to fall. The ongoing updates—such as the core and spam updates in May and June—have contributed to upheaval in Reddit’s traffic patterns, prompting these reflections.
Given these developments, it remains to be seen if any large publishers will make the decisive move to block Google Search entirely, signaling a significant shift in how content distribution and search engine dependence might evolve.