Reddit may cut Google off from its content, and it isn’t the only one

For twenty years, the deal between Google and the web was simple. Publishers let Google crawl their pages. Google sent readers back in return. That bargain is breaking.

Reddit is the latest, and loudest, sign. Its shares fell about 9% on Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company has discussed cutting off Google’s access to its content for AI. The two signed a deal in 2024 that lets Google train its models on Reddit posts, worth a reported $60 million a year.

That deal is now nearing its end, and Reddit is not sure it wants to renew on the old terms.

The reason is traffic. Google’s AI Overviewssummarise answers at the top of the results page. Users read the summary and never click. Reddit sells ads against the visitors Google used to send, so fewer clicks means less money. Reddit executives reportedly want the next...

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