this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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109
Google Search referrals to the web have plummeted, AI links are 'less than 1%' of traffic (9to5google.com)
submitted 13 hours ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/technology@lemmy.world
55 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Data gathered by Chartbeat and shared by Axios reveals that, over the past year, Google Search traffic to publishers across the broader web have fallen drastically, and proportionally more so for smaller websites. Referral traffic from Google apparently fell by 60% for “small publishers,” while “medium publishers” (those with between 10,000-100,000 daily pageviews) saw a drop of 47%. “Large publishers,” meanwhile, saw a 22% drop. That last category would be any site getting over 100,000 daily pageviews.

It’s not just Google Search either. While Search traffic dropped by 34%, traffic from Google Discover has also fallen by 15% over the past year, the report found.

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[–] org@lemmy.org -1 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Which is probably enough to find the info 90% of the time

[–] foodandart@lemmy.zip 9 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I have classic apple computers.

I also maintain a small list of sites I visit to get abandonware programs for them. Of the times I've used the AI results, I found what I was looking for fewer than 15%. At one point, I had the AI telling me there was no such thing as Winamp for Mac, while I was running it in MacOS 8.6 under the virtualization program, Sheepshaver.

Seriously?

AI's got so little ability to sort through archived knowledge and pull up old links and sources, it's as if anything before 2006 never existed.

Nuts to that.

I hit up ten blue links and have never looked back.

[–] org@lemmy.org 2 points 12 hours ago

But did a regular search provide the correct info? I find niche searches aren’t always good using either method. Old software info can be hard to find.

[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

this is problematic on multiple levels.

[–] org@lemmy.org -1 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Name 3 levels

[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

  • It helps spread false information widely

  • It puts a lot of control of information in a single companies hands

  • It hurts the underlying sources

When google provides the info directly, and the first hand sources has become completely obsolete and shut down, what would new information stem from? It's an inherently unstable and short sighted solution.

[–] org@lemmy.org -1 points 7 hours ago

Google controls search results and has been caught meddling. Which negates the first two.

The last one of hurts the sources… sure they get less traffic which is less ad revenue. Cry me a river.

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

Level one, level two, level three. WHAT NOW, BITCHES?