Google’s recent introduction of AI-powered features in its search app has sparked concerns that the company may be slowly killing the web. While Google insists that its new tools are improving user experience and sending more quality clicks to websites, the data tells a different story.

According to Similarweb, worldwide traffic from search engines dropped by 5% between June 2024 and June 2025, with certain types of sites like science, education, and health sites taking a harder hit. Digital Content Next, a trade association of content companies, found that referral traffic dropped by as much as 25% in May and June alone.

Impact on Content Sites

Some content sites are feeling the pinch more than others. Neil Vogel, head of People Inc., which publishes People, Travel + Leisure, Investopedia, and other publications, told The Economist that before AI came along, more than 60% of its traffic came from Google. Today, it’s in the mid-30s and dropping fast.

Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode have been accused of

Inspired by

• https://www.computerworld.com/article/4065060/does-google-want-to-kill-the-web.html

Sources

• search.google
• digitalcontentnext.org
• blog.google
• seroundtable.com
• similarweb.com