Archive · 24 Jul 2025
Pew Study: Google AI Overviews Lead to Website Traffic Drop
Google has a new feature called AI Overviews that summarizes search results using AI.
A study found that when people see these summaries, they click on links to websites less often.
This is because they get the information directly from the summary.
Website owners are worried because they rely on people clicking their links to get traffic and make money.
Some publishers have even complained to the government, saying Google is hurting their businesses.
Pew Research Center study indicates Google AI Overviews led to a decrease in website clicks.
Users shown AI Overviews clicked on website links 8% of the time compared to 15% for those without AI Overviews.
AI Overviews, introduced a year ago, present AI-generated summaries above traditional search results.
Online publishers and creators fear AI Overviews are reducing web traffic and revenue.
A group of publishers in the EU filed an antitrust complaint against Google, citing traffic and revenue loss.
- Who
- A Pew Research Center study examined how Google's AI Overviews affect website traffic.
- What
- Google AI Overviews are causing a decline in website click-through rates.
- When
- The study's findings were released in March 2025, a year after the introduction of AI Overviews.
- Where
- The study was conducted in the United States.
- Why
- The concern is that users are less likely to click on website links when AI-generated summaries are provided, potentially reducing traffic and revenue for website owners.
Concerns of Publishers
N/A
Traffic Impact
Concerns of Publishers
Reduced traffic to websites.
N/A
N/A
Revenue Loss
Concerns of Publishers
Loss of revenue for online publishers.
N/A
N/A
- Study Source
- Pew Research Center
- Overview Introduction
- A year prior to March 2025
- Website Click Rate (AI Overviews)
- 8%
- Website Click Rate (No Overviews)
- 15%
- Google Searches with Overviews
- 18% (of searches analyzed)
- Sources in Summaries
- Wikipedia, YouTube, Reddit