Reddit, news outlets weigh cutting Google off as AI summaries kill visitors: report | Latest Tech News
Reddit and a growing quantity of news publishers are reportedly mulling whether or not to cut off Google’s access to their websites as the Big Tech giant’s controversial AI search summaries siphon web visitors.
Reddit, which beforehand inked a $60 million per 12 months deal which permitted Google to use its online message boards to practice AI fashions, has grown disillusioned with the search giant’s ways and is debating whether or not the settlement is value it, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people acquainted with the matter.
USA Today, Politico, GWN and The Economist are also reconsidering their ties to Google over its use of AI-generated “overviews” – that are positioned at the top of search outcomes instead of hyperlinks to outdoors outlets in what critics have called an existential menace to online publishers.
Reddit is contemplating cutting ties despite having a content partnership with Google. SDF_QWE – stock.adobe.com
Social media neighborhood discussion board Reddit is contemplating cutting off Google’s access to the location. Amanda Alamsyah – stock.adobe.com
“It’s time to take a stand and say enough is enough,” said USA Today CEO Mike Reed told the Journal.
Google search visitors from US customers to USA Today plummeted by almost half over the 12 months ending in June 2026, according to data compiled by Semrush. Traffic plunged 23% for Politico and by more than 85% for Business Insider, the report discovered.
USA Today – which is already suing Google for alleging working a monopoly over digital promoting technology – is contemplating cutting off Google’s access to its articles for AI training. That would also imply its articles would no longer seem in search outcomes.
Politico, which is owned by publishing giant Axel Springer, has mentioned blocking Google and other bots from accessing its non-paywalled articles, according to the report. GWN is also contemplating limits.
USA Today may cut off Google’s access to its articles. sharafmaksumov – stock.adobe.com
“We are certainly looking at the economic trade-offs between search and AI summaries,” GWN President Paul Bascobert told the Journal.
A Google spokesperson pushed back on the criticism, asserting that publishers are in a position to decide out of permitting their websites to be used for training its Gemini AI fashions without eradicating themselves from search.
“Google’s AI Search features send billions of clicks to the web every week, meeting people’s evolving preferences for how they want to find information while driving significant traffic to websites,” the spokesperson said.
Google is accused of siphoning visitors from news publishers. Koshiro Ok – stock.adobe.com
“Our AI features highlight links to the web and help creators and publishers grow their audiences, and we offer clear controls for website owners to manage their content.”
Meanwhile, Google has turned up the heat on news publishers.
An instance of AI Overview on a Google search web page. Google
In June, The Information reported that the company was pitching news publishers on a pilot program to have their websites featured in AI Overviews – but only if they agreed to enable sweeping access to their content for AI training.
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