Search traffic has declined so much that some publishers are considering opting out of Google entirely

Search traffic to publishers has fallen more than forty percent over the past year, prompting some to consider what seemed unthinkable just months ago: blocking Google entirely. Per Nieman Lab, the root cause is Google's web crawlers, which index websites for search results while simultaneously harvesting content to train AI systems. Publishers are increasingly concluding the bargain isn't worth it. USA Today—currently suing Google over alleged ad-tech monopoly practices—says it will cut Google off completely if search traffic continues declining. Reddit is reconsidering its sixty-million-dollar annual Google deal. People Inc. says turning Google off is completely on the table. It's a remarkable reversal: for two decades, being found on Google was essential to publisher survival. Now Google's survival depends on them.

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