On October 29, 2024, 20 small and unbiased net publishers gathered at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View for what the corporate referred to as a Internet Creators Summit. Executives from the search large supplied apologies for algorithm adjustments that had decimated web site site visitors. Those self same executives then spent their earnings name that afternoon discussing plans to broaden synthetic intelligence options that might hold customers inside search outcomes.

Nate Hake sat in that room listening to 2 totally different tales. In a single ear, Pandu Nayak and different Google Search executives apologized to the assembled creators. Their web sites had misplaced huge quantities of site visitors by means of what Google termed “collateral injury” in its push towards an “AI-first” future. In his different ear, by way of an earbud, Hake monitored Google’s quarterly earnings name the place CEO Sundar Pichai painted a really totally different image for traders.

“In a single ear I listened to 2 Google Search execs sitting in entrance of me – they had been apologizing to the 20 small & unbiased net publishers within the room,” Hake wrote in an October 29, 2025 publish reflecting on the summit. “And, on the earnings name, my different ear heard a VERY totally different story from Sundar Pichai.”

The summit befell after months of site visitors losses for unbiased publishers following algorithm updates all through 2023 and 2024. Many attendees had seen their companies devastated by adjustments to how search outcomes appeared and ranked content material. Google hosted its first Web Creator Event as publishers report 70-100% traffic losses, with some reporting declines exceeding 90 p.c.

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In the course of the query and reply portion, Hake requested Google Search govt Pandu Nayak immediately how human net creators had been purported to survive within the new AI-first setting. The response proved evasive. “Nayak was clearly caught off guard by my query and fumbled round for a solution,” Hake wrote. “He didn’t reply the query immediately — however did say we should always lean in and use AI to create content material ourselves.”

That suggestion ran counter to what many unbiased publishers believed about high quality content material creation. The assembled creators had invested years constructing genuine content material written by people for human readers. Now Google urged they need to generate content material utilizing the identical synthetic intelligence that was changing their work in search outcomes.

The contradiction between the 2 messages struck a number of attendees. Whereas Danny Sullivan, then serving as Google’s Search Liaison, expressed hope for enhancements and arranged the summit, firm management made clear its priorities lay elsewhere. Sullivan expressed hope for a “comfortable reunion” one yr later to have a good time web site restoration after algorithmic fixes. That reunion by no means materialized, and Sullivan himself left the Search Liaison function by August 2025.

“We got a number of apologies & a promise that Google nonetheless cared about human-first net creators,” Hake wrote in his October 29, 2025 reflection. “However …. as I sat there, I used to be additionally quietly listening to Google’s earnings name by way of an earbud.”

Pichai used the earnings name to announce aggressive enlargement of synthetic intelligence options all through search. Traders responded positively to information that AI summaries would seem on extra queries throughout extra classes. The AI Overviews characteristic retains customers clicking inside search outcomes moderately than visiting exterior web sites, which Google framed as an enchancment to person expertise and a lift to promoting income.

“Extra AI summaries = more cash for Google & its shareholders,” Hake noticed. “However …. what did this imply for web sites like ours that also invested in creating content material ‘by individuals, for individuals’?”

The monetary influence on attending publishers was substantial. Many paid their very own journey bills to succeed in Mountain View at a time when their companies confronted existential threats from site visitors losses. Mike Hardaker of Mountain Weekly Information shared during the summit that after grossing $250,000 the earlier yr, his site visitors had dropped 97 p.c and he was consuming at meals banks.

Google supplied restricted concrete options through the summit. Attendees reported being informed that restoration wouldn’t come rapidly, that the format of search outcomes had essentially modified, and that site visitors ranges from September 2023 wouldn’t return. Some websites would possibly get well “ONE DAY,” in keeping with statements from Google representatives, however not all would.

One yr later, the outcomes fluctuate considerably amongst summit attendees. Some web sites recovered parts of their site visitors by means of subsequent algorithm changes. Others continued declining or shut down solely as their enterprise fashions collapsed with out search site visitors.

“Since then, a few of us received our site visitors again. Others noticed their web sites die,” wrote Gisele Navarro on October 29, 2025, marking the anniversary. Navarro serves as operations supervisor at ThisIsFresh and had attended the summit after experiencing her personal site visitors losses. “Someday, we are going to all get up in courtroom.”

The specter of authorized motion displays rising frustration amongst publishers about their relationship with engines like google. Raptive sued Google for ad tech monopolization in October 2025, submitting a 93-page grievance alleging the corporate manipulated promoting auctions and harmed writer income for over a decade.

Within the yr for the reason that summit, Google’s stock price increased 58 percent whereas AI Overviews expanded globally. The characteristic now operates in 200 nations and 40 languages, showing on greater than 1.5 billion person queries month-to-month. Analysis from a number of sources exhibits these AI summaries scale back clicks to writer web sites considerably.

The destruction of unbiased publishing companies accelerated all through 2024 and 2025. Geekflare, a technology publisher launched in 2015, lowered from 53 workers to 2 individuals after experiencing a 90 p.c site visitors decline. The positioning dropped from 6 million month-to-month pageviews following algorithm adjustments. Healthy Framework, an eight-year-old dating industry publisher, introduced closure on January 2, 2025 after dropping 98 p.c of its income. Australian lifestyle publication DMARGE spent $200,000 making an attempt restoration after site visitors plummeted from 8 million month-to-month distinctive guests to 300,000, with no enchancment regardless of following all really helpful practices.

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HouseFresh lost 95 percent of its traffic after the September 2023 replace, dropping from 4,000 day by day guests to 200. The positioning independently purchases and checks air purifiers by means of long-term efficiency assessments, but ranks under sponsored outcomes and discussion board discussions. Prepared Regular Lower, an unbiased movie overview website, reported an 80 p.c site visitors discount by December 2023, falling from 1.5 million month-to-month views and forcing the corporate to put off its whole 20-person writing staff.

Analysis published by Ahrefs discovered that when AI Overviews seem in search outcomes, the primary natural hyperlink loses a median of 34.5 p.c of clicks. The examine in contrast 300,000 searches from March 2024 with March 2025 information. One other examine from February 2025 documented even bigger declines, displaying a 54.6 p.c discount in natural click-through charges for queries with AI summaries.

Bigger publishers have joined unbiased creators in expressing concern. Dotdash Meredith reported a 3 p.c session decline through the first quarter of 2025, with CEO Neil Vogel noting AI Overviews seem on roughly one-third of search outcomes associated to their content material. BuzzFeed warned shareholders in August 2025 that AI-generated summaries might result in fewer clicks and lowered promoting income.

The writer advocacy has grown extra organized for the reason that summit. Ziff Davis coordinated a writer coalition to deal with issues about AI influence on content material companies. Penske Media filed swimsuit towards Google over AI Overviews in late 2025. Information Media Alliance referred to as Google’s AI options “theft” and demanded Division of Justice intervention.

Latest evaluation from SISTRIX documented systematic patterns in AI Mode favoring properties owned by the search large itself. Following the October 31, 2025 launch in Germany, the analytics firm examined thousands and thousands of AI-generated responses. YouTube captured 40.08 p.c of AI Mode citations whereas Google.com acquired 31.69 p.c. Mixed, these two Google-owned properties accounted for over 71 p.c of the highest citations, demonstrating what critics time period “self-preference” in synthetic intelligence search outcomes.

“Google did tweak its algos a bit, and some of the web sites in that room benefited. I’m proud if our efforts contributed to that,” Hake wrote. “BUT, by and enormous, most human-first net publishers are nonetheless struggling to be seen in Google’s sea of AI Overviews, Reddit & AI spam.”

Quality concerns about AI Overviews emerged because the characteristic expanded globally. Lily Ray, vp of search engine optimization technique and analysis at Amsive, documented in Might 2025 how spam and manipulation exploit AI-generated summaries. search engine optimization professionals and spammers recognized that AI Overviews usually regurgitate content material verbatim or hallucinate incorrect data with out fact-checking towards different sources. One notably efficient manipulation entails creating listicles claiming an individual or firm ranks as “finest” in a class, even when revealed on that entity’s personal web site. Ray discovered it “mind-boggling” that Google, which traditionally excelled at figuring out search spam, now elevates “problematic, biased and spammy solutions and citations in AI Overview outcomes.”

The terminology round content material creation has shifted through the yr. Google executives more and more use “creator” to discuss with clients of Google Cloud who generate content material utilizing Gemini synthetic intelligence moderately than human writers and publishers. This linguistic change displays a broader shift in how Google frames content material manufacturing.

Algorithm updates appeared to disproportionately influence unbiased publishers whereas favoring established manufacturers. In December 2024, Google’s spam update brought on unbiased web site Replay Jutsu to vanish from search outcomes even for branded key phrases. Web site proprietor Masab Farooque famous that websites with “normal authority” acquired favorable remedy regardless of content material high quality issues, main him to conclude that “something that’s not a ‘model’ is ‘spam’ for Google.” One other affected writer noticed that “their threshold for what’s a model is admittedly excessive. Principally you are both Pepsi or nothing.” The sample repeated throughout numerous independent sites documenting traffic losses of 50 to 95 percentall through 2024.

“In the meantime, on Twitter, Google execs now usually use the time period ‘creator’ to refer to not human-first net publishers — however to clients of Google Cloud: spammers who use Gemini to fill the online with AI slop content material,” Hake noticed. “You see, Google is within the AI spam enterprise now.”

The elemental enterprise mannequin of the open net will depend on engines like google sending site visitors to unbiased publishers who monetize guests by means of promoting or subscriptions. Publishers create content material that engines like google index. Customers discover content material by means of search. Each events profit from the change. AI summaries that reply queries with out requiring clicks disrupt this association.

“Google is utilizing AI to change into the online — to pump out content material that prices them nothing as a result of their AI stole it from different web sites,” Hake wrote. “Like a parasite, Google is utilizing AI to suck as a lot worth as it could actually from the Web.”

This characterization gained help from information displaying imbalanced relationships between AI firms and publishers. Cloudflare research from September 2025 documented that Anthropic crawled 38,000 pages for each customer it despatched again to web sites. Coaching-related crawling by AI firms elevated to 79 p.c of all bot site visitors by mid-2025.

Google defended its method all year long. Search VP Nick Fox stated in Might 2025 that research displaying click-through price decreases used flawed methodologies. Google VP Liz Reid claimed clicks from AI Overviews delivered greater high quality engagement than conventional search visits. CEO Pichai maintained that AI options ship site visitors to a “wider set of internet sites.”

These claims conflicted with writer experiences and unbiased analysis information. The disconnect between firm statements and documented impacts created further frustration amongst content material creators who noticed their companies decline whereas Google reported file earnings.

The trajectory issues small publishers as a result of it suggests a future the place AI offers all solutions immediately inside search interfaces. Some search engine marketing specialists warn of a potential “zero result SERP” scenario the place natural listings disappear solely. Zero-click searches increased from 56 percent to 69 percent of Google queries since AI Overviews launched in Might 2024.

Different synthetic intelligence platforms current each alternatives and challenges for publishers. ChatGPT referrals to news sites increased 25 times year-over-year by means of Might 2025. Nevertheless, these referrals stay a small fraction of conventional search site visitors volumes. Publishers report blended outcomes from being cited in conversational AI responses.

The advertising implications lengthen past particular person writer issues. The complete digital promoting ecosystem developed round search site visitors and web site visits. Adjustments to how customers uncover data have an effect on advertisers, businesses, and platforms that rely on consideration economic system metrics. Companies that invested in content material advertising as their major buyer acquisition channel face strategic selections about useful resource allocation.

For unbiased publishers who attended the summit, the previous yr confirmed their fears about algorithmic dependency. Constructing a enterprise on site visitors from a single supply proved susceptible when that supply modified its basic method to data supply. Diversification methods together with newsletters, social media, and direct reader relationships grew to become extra crucial.

“And, total, Google is ALL in on AI,” Hake wrote. “AI Overviews & AI Mode have now gone world.”

The summit itself revealed tensions between totally different elements of the group. Sullivan and a few Google workers demonstrated real concern for unbiased publishers. Engineering and product management prioritized options that lowered writer clicks. The contradiction illustrated broader challenges when platform enterprise pursuits battle with ecosystem well being.

Giant publishers responded extra slowly than unbiased creators however finally acknowledged comparable threats. Media firms with substantial sources and model recognition nonetheless noticed measurable site visitors declines. Their later involvement added credibility to unbiased writer complaints that Google representatives had initially dismissed or minimized.

“And enormous publishers have lastly woken as much as the truth of what’s taking place — and a few are lastly becoming a member of us small websites in combating again,” Hake famous. “I want they’d have listened to us indie websites a yr in the past once we forewarned of this — however higher late than by no means, I assume.”

The regulatory setting stays unsure. A number of antitrust actions goal Google’s search and promoting practices. Investigations in Brazil, the European Union, and america study whether or not AI options hurt competitors or violate mental property rights. Publishers hope authorized proceedings will drive adjustments to how AI summaries use their content material.

“Someday, we are going to all get up in courtroom,” Navarro wrote, echoing sentiments from different publishers who see litigation as their remaining possibility.

The anniversary of the summit marked a second for reflection on broader questions on synthetic intelligence and knowledge economics. Who advantages when AI firms practice on public net content material then present solutions that scale back clicks to supply materials? How ought to worth circulation between content material creators and platforms that mixture their work? What obligations do dominant engines like google need to the ecosystem they index?

These questions lengthen past the precise complaints of 20 publishers who gathered at Google’s headquarters on October 29, 2024. The summit represented a microcosm of bigger tensions as synthetic intelligence transforms how data will get found, consumed, and monetized on-line.

Hake concluded his reflection with a warning in regards to the sustainability of Google’s method. “However there’s an issue when a parasite will get too grasping: It may well kill its host,” he wrote. “If Google retains down this path of steamrolling human creators & publishers, who will create the content material for its AI to summarize?”

The query stays unanswered because the search large continues increasing AI options whereas writer site visitors declines.

Timeline

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Abstract

Who: Twenty small and unbiased net publishers attended Google’s Internet Creators Summit on October 29, 2024. Nate Hake, founding father of Journey Lemming, and Gisele Navarro, operations supervisor at ThisIsFresh, had been among the many attendees. Google Search executives together with Pandu Nayak participated, together with Danny Sullivan who organized the occasion as Search Liaison.

What: Google held a summit to deal with writer issues about site visitors losses from algorithm adjustments. Executives apologized for web sites changing into “collateral injury” whereas concurrently saying expanded AI options through the earnings name held the identical day. Publishers acquired little concrete assist, with Google stating that September 2023 site visitors ranges wouldn’t return as a result of search had “essentially modified.” One yr later, some web sites recovered site visitors whereas others failed fully.

When: The summit occurred on October 29, 2024, with reflections posted precisely one yr afterward October 29, 2025. Site visitors losses started with algorithm updates all through 2023 and 2024. AI Overviews launched broadly in Might 2024 and expanded to over 100 nations by late October 2024. The previous yr noticed Google’s inventory improve 58 p.c whereas writer site visitors declined considerably.

The place: The summit befell at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. The impacts have an effect on unbiased publishers globally as AI Overviews now function in 200 nations and 40 languages. The phenomenon extends all through the digital publishing ecosystem together with information websites, journey blogs, overview websites, and different content material companies depending on search site visitors.

Why: Publishers confronted site visitors losses of 70 to one hundred pc following algorithm adjustments. Google prioritized synthetic intelligence options that hold customers inside search outcomes moderately than clicking by means of to web sites. This shift serves investor pursuits by rising promoting income whereas essentially disrupting the enterprise mannequin of unbiased publishers who rely on search site visitors. The change displays broader tensions between platform enterprise pursuits and the well being of the open net ecosystem that platforms index for content material.


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