Google’s AI search changes upended online publishing

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Google’s AI search changes upended online publishing

数字出版行业长期以来一直依赖谷歌。许多媒体机构投入时间和金钱来优化其网页，以便在搜索引擎中名列前茅，目标是吸引读者点击其文章或首次发现其网站。多年来，谷歌与出版商之间的关系在很大程度上是互惠的；在线出版商用内容填充了谷歌的搜索索引，而谷歌则为出版物提供了曝光度和流量。

But that relationship has changed. The launch of Google’s AI search features — coupled with changes to the way it ranks search results — has made it harder for publishers to survive on traffic from Google alone. In 2024, Google rolled out AI Overviews, a feature that slots an AI-generated search result summarizing pages from across the web at the very top of Google Search, with links to sources its AI system determines to be the most useful placed below the summary. Instead of vying for clicks on the first page of Search, publishers became beholden to an AI system that regurgitates results, with no guarantee that users will actually click on the source of that information.

但这种关系已经改变。谷歌人工智能搜索功能的推出，加上其搜索结果排名方式的改变，使得出版商仅靠来自谷歌的流量生存变得更加困难。2024年，谷歌推出了“人工智能概览”（AI Overviews），该功能在谷歌搜索的最上方插入一个人工智能生成的搜索结果，总结来自全网的页面，并在摘要下方放置其人工智能系统认为最有用的来源链接。出版商不再需要在搜索结果的第一页争夺点击量，而是受制于一个只会重复结果的人工智能系统，且无法保证用户真的会点击这些信息的来源。

Though Google’s AI Overviews got off to a shaky start, the feature immediately raised concerns among publishers, with the News/Media Alliance saying it will be “catastrophic” to web traffic. A 2024 investigation from the Press Gazette found that Google’s AI Overviews appeared for almost a quarter of news-related searches in May 2024. By August, the outlet found that AI Overviews had begun impacting the visibility of publishers by replacing media sites that previously held the top spots on Google’s search engine for certain queries.

尽管谷歌的“人工智能概览”起步不稳，但该功能立即引起了出版商的担忧，新闻/媒体联盟（News/Media Alliance）称其对网络流量将是“灾难性”的。《新闻公报》（Press Gazette）2024年的一项调查发现，2024年5月，近四分之一的新闻相关搜索出现了谷歌的“人工智能概览”。到了8月，该媒体发现，“人工智能概览”已经开始影响出版商的可见度，取代了此前在谷歌搜索引擎中针对某些查询占据首位的媒体网站。

A future where Google could eventually stop sending traffic to outside sites on the web has only gotten closer as the company builds out its vision for an AI-powered search. In May 2025, it launched AI Mode, a feature that replaces Google’s standard search engine with a chatbot-like interface that provides detailed summaries from results on the web.

随着谷歌不断构建其人工智能搜索的愿景，谷歌最终可能停止向外部网站发送流量的未来已越来越近。2025年5月，谷歌推出了“人工智能模式”（AI Mode），该功能用类似聊天机器人的界面取代了谷歌的标准搜索引擎，提供来自网络结果的详细摘要。

The concerns raised by the News/Media Alliance were real: Traffic to online publishers tanked following the launch of Google’s AI search features. A June 2025 report from The Wall Street Journal revealed how traffic to Business Insider, The Washington Post, HuffPost, and the WSJ itself has declined since 2022. Data from analytics company Similarweb suggested that search traffic to The New York Times sank from 44 percent to 35.5 percent in three years, the WSJ reported.

新闻/媒体联盟提出的担忧是真实的：在谷歌人工智能搜索功能推出后，在线出版商的流量大幅下滑。《华尔街日报》2025年6月的一份报告揭示了自2022年以来，《商业内幕》（Business Insider）、《华盛顿邮报》、《赫芬顿邮报》（HuffPost）以及《华尔街日报》本身的流量是如何下降的。据《华尔街日报》报道，分析公司Similarweb的数据显示，《纽约时报》的搜索流量在三年内从44%降至35.5%。

A report from Digiday pointed to similar dips at Digital Content Next (DCN), a trade association that represents outlets and media companies like Bloomberg, The Associated Press, The New York Times, Condé Nast, and Vox Media. Between May and June 2025, DCN says 19 of its members experienced a traffic loss on Google, ranging from 1 to 25 percent, Digiday reported. DMG Media, which owns Daily Mail and Metro, told the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority that click-through rates dropped by up to 89 percent between June and July 2025, citing impacts from AI Overviews. On top of all of this, Pew Research found that people are “less likely” to click on links to other websites when they see an AI Overview.

Digiday的一份报告指出，代表彭博社、美联社、纽约时报、康泰纳仕（Condé Nast）和Vox Media等媒体公司的行业协会Digital Content Next（DCN）也出现了类似的下滑。据Digiday报道，2025年5月至6月间，DCN称其19名成员在谷歌上的流量损失在1%到25%之间。拥有《每日邮报》和《地铁报》的DMG Media告诉英国竞争与市场管理局，受“人工智能概览”的影响，2025年6月至7月期间的点击率下降了高达89%。除此之外，皮尤研究中心（Pew Research）发现，当人们看到“人工智能概览”时，他们“不太可能”点击指向其他网站的链接。

These numbers starkly contrast with Google’s claims that its AI search features are helping the web. Last year, Google Search head Liz Reid said click volume from the search engine remained “relatively stable,” adding that AI search is sending more clicks to different types of websites — especially those “with forums, videos, podcasts, and posts” from other users. Nick Fox, Google’s senior vice president of knowledge and information, told the BBC, “From our point of view, the web is thriving.”

这些数字与谷歌声称其人工智能搜索功能正在帮助网络发展的说法形成了鲜明对比。去年，谷歌搜索负责人莉兹·里德（Liz Reid）表示，来自搜索引擎的点击量保持“相对稳定”，并补充说人工智能搜索正在向不同类型的网站发送更多点击量——尤其是那些“带有论坛、视频、播客和帖子”的网站。谷歌知识与信息高级副总裁尼克·福克斯（Nick Fox）告诉英国广播公司（BBC）：“从我们的角度来看，网络正在蓬勃发展。”

In addition to scrutiny from regulators, publishers from around the globe have filed lawsuits against Google, claiming the company’s AI search features have negatively impacted traffic. Many lawsuits haven’t been successful. US District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed an antitrust case from Chegg and Penske Media, which owns The Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Verge. The same judge also rejected a proposed class action lawsuit surrounding AI Overviews filed by Arkansas newspapers.

除了监管机构的审查外，全球各地的出版商还对谷歌提起了诉讼，声称该公司的人工智能搜索功能对流量产生了负面影响。许多诉讼并未成功。美国地方法官阿米特·梅塔（Amit Mehta）驳回了Chegg和Penske Media（拥有《滚石》、《公告牌》、《好莱坞报道》和《The Verge》）的反垄断诉讼。同一位法官还驳回了阿肯色州报纸围绕“人工智能概览”提起的集体诉讼。

Online publishers have had to adjust their strategies in the wake of falling search traffic, with many leaning on social media, newsletters, and subscriptions to promote and make money from their work. Others are using a toggle that allows them to opt out of appearing in AI Mode and AI Overviews without affecting their visibility in search — an option Google broadly rolled out following an order from the UK. But this still doesn’t fix sinking traffic.

在搜索流量下降的情况下，在线出版商不得不调整策略，许多人依靠社交媒体、时事通讯和订阅来推广其作品并从中获利。其他人则使用一个开关，允许他们选择不出现在“人工智能模式”和“人工智能概览”中，而不影响其在搜索中的可见度——这是谷歌在英国下令后广泛推出的一个选项。但这仍然无法解决流量下滑的问题。

Pushback from online publishers appears to have resulted in some changes to Google’s AI search features. The company has begun to make sources more prominent in AI Mode and AI Overviews, as hovering over a link in either feature will show a pop-up with a list of articles and accompanying images. Another AI search change puts

在线出版商的抵制似乎促使谷歌对其人工智能搜索功能进行了一些调整。该公司已开始在“人工智能模式”和“人工智能概览”中使来源更加突出，因为将鼠标悬停在任一功能的链接上，都会显示一个包含文章列表和附带图片的弹出窗口。另一项人工智能搜索的改变是……