Publishers and search engines have long depended on ad placements and affiliate marketing to make money.
Search engines rely on pay-per-click (PPC) models, while publishers blend display ads, affiliate links, and sponsored content.
But with chat-based AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity on the rise, that foundation is starting to crack.
If users get the information they need directly from AI, why would they keep clicking search ads or publisher display links?
And as search engines push further into AI-driven results – including features like Google’s AI Mode – what incentive remains for users to engage with traditional ad units?
If fewer people reach publisher sites at all, the core revenue models that have supported the open web begin to break down.
The real numbers behind AI’s impact
AI’s effect on the open web isn’t hypothetical – it’s already visible in the data.
Google’s advertising revenue continues to grow, reaching $348.15 billion in 2024, but the growth rate is slowing.
Year-over-year gains fell to 13.9% between 2023 and 2024, down from 41.3% during the pandemic.
Broader economic factors played a role, but the trend also reflects fewer clicks and Google’s struggle to monetize AI-powered search features.
Publishers are seeing even sharper declines.
In September 2025, DMG Media reported an 89% drop in click-through rates, pointing directly to AI Overviews as a primary cause.
Zero-click searches now make up nearly 60% of Google’s mobile queries, and AI Overviews appear for roughly 30% of processed searches.
Informational publishers are hit hardest, as their content is often summarized before users have a reason to visit their sites.
The Guardian recently noted that sites previously ranked first can lose up to 79% of traffic when pushed below an AI Overview – a trend some outlets describe as a “traffic apocalypse.”
These numbers highlight a clear shift: users are getting what they need from AI-generated answers, not from publisher pages or traditional SERPs.
With this foundation established, it’s clear why AI is reshaping publisher revenue models – and why search engines are feeling similar pressure.
Dig deeper: The implosion of the blogging-for-dollars revenue model
How AI is reshaping the economics of the open web
Publisher pressures
Publishers have long relied on paywalls, a trend that accelerated when featured snippets – now often replaced by AI Overviews – started answering queries directly.
AI platforms like Google AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT push this further.
If users get answers without ever reaching a publisher’s site, they never hit the paywall and never become subscribers.
The result is a quieter, more invisible form of loss.
Users don’t realize what content isn’t being used to generate their answers, and publishers that lock down too aggressively risk losing reach,…
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