Google’s AI search changes upended online publishing

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How it started

The digital publishing industry has relied on Google for a very long time. Many outlets spent time and money optimizing their webpages to show up at the top of the search engine, with the goal of getting readers to click on their articles or discover their websites for the first time. For years, the relationship between Google and publishers was largely reciprocal; online publishers filled out Google’s search index with content, while Google supplied publications with exposure and traffic.

But that relationship has changed. The launch of Google’s AI search features — coupled with changes to the way it...

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