Publishers fear AI search summaries and chatbots mean 'end of traffic era'

Search traffic to news sites has already plunged by a third in one year, according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Search traffic to news sites has already plunged by a third in one year, according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Publishers fear AI search summaries and chatbots mean'end of traffic era' Media companies expect web traffic to their sites from online searches to plummet over the next three years, as AI summaries and chatbots change the way consumers use the internet. An overwhelming majority are also planning to encourage their journalists to behave more like YouTube and TikTok content creators this year, as short-form video and audio content continues to boom. The findings are drawn from a new report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, which included the views of 280 media leaders from 51 countries.