The Web is Dying. Google Killed It via AI-Overviews & Unstable Core Updates
This isn’t just an update. This is a mass extinction—and Google lit the match.
For decades, digital publishers built the web. They created content, employed journalists, and kept the world informed. But now? Google has turned the very web it indexed into its personal AI playground, extracting content to feed its Overviews, and leaving publishers to die in the shadows.
Welcome to the AI Age, where Google answers your question—without showing you who actually wrote the answer.
The Collapse of Independent Newsrooms
In just two weeks after the June 2025 Core Update, 1 in 3 independent news sites reported 50%+ traffic loss. There are Thousands of Publishers affected by this but sites like:
- TruthScope Media – lost 74% of its organic sessions despite no major content changes.
- EcoJournalist.org – dropped from Google Discover entirely after publishing a critical article on AI misinformation.
- HealthClarity Blog – went from 200k/day to 12k/day traffic after its best-performing evergreen guides were pulled into AI Overviews.
”All shared one problem: their content was being used by Google, but their sites were not being visited”
GOOGLE’S UNSEEN AGGRESSION: June 2025 Core Update Exposed
Google claimed it “improved relevance,” but what they didn’t tell you is:
- Their AI now scrapes, summarizes, and replaces top-ranking content.
- New spam classifiers are flagging real journalism as “duplicate” because their own AI is “answering” the same question.
- High-authority sites are excluded from top results if they don’t align with Google’s preferred AI format.
A top SEO for a major US publisher leaked: “We weren’t penalized. We were replaced.”
AI Overviews are “THE INVISIBLE TRAFFIC KILLER”
The most brutal blow comes from AI Overviews, rolled out globally just weeks before the June 2025 Core Update.
How AI Overviews Kill Traffic:
- 68% of searches now end without a single click.
- Google’s AI takes publisher content and displays it as if it’s Google’s own.
- There’s no opt-out without losing all search visibility—an impossible choice.
A digital marketing exec for a billion-dollar media brand revealed:
“Google gives users the answer, but we pay the cost. We produce it. They consume it. We disappear.”
SUNDAR PICHAI’S STATEMENT: A Contradiction That Lit the Fire
In his June 2025 appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast, Sundar Pichai said:
“Yes, AI Overviews still take you to the web… We are deeply committed to supporting the web ecosystem.”
Source : Lex Fridman’s Official Website
But here’s the contradiction:
- If you’re “committed to the web,” why is zero-click traffic now 70%?
- If publishers matter, why are they losing visibility in your own results?
- If the web is important, why do you punish those who don’t license their content for your AI?
Pichai’s assertion that Google is “sending traffic more than anyone” clashes directly with EU antitrust data blaming Google for “stealing publisher content—and their traffic”.
The EU doesn’t buy it either. On July 4, 2025, European publishers filed a major antitrust complaint stating: “Google is stealing our content, our traffic, and our future.”
Read the full report by Reuters
The Academic Blackout
University journals and academic blogs are also being decimated.
Take NeuroLogicToday.org, an AI ethics journal that lost 92% of its traffic after its thought-leadership papers were lifted and summarized into AI Overviews, stripping the context, nuance, and citations.
The journal’s editor said:
“We weren’t just de-ranked—we were dehumanized. The AI pretends to understand, but it’s just theft with a neural net.”
WHY THIS IS MORE THAN TRAFFIC — IT’S THE END OF TRUST
What happens when:
- Publishers can’t fund reporters?
- Experts can’t afford to write guides?
- Journalists are replaced by scraped AI regurgitations?
We lose truth. nuance. diversity. accountability. We lose the soul of the internet.
PUBLISHERS’ SURVIVAL GUIDE
| Tactic | Action |
| Answer Engine Optimization | Optimize content to be cited within AI Overviews. Use structured Q&A, authoritative formats, and LLM prompts |
| Semantic Clustering | Build topic clusters around E-E-A-T + entity SEO to resist suppression. |
| Direct Audience Channels | Grow newsletters, WhatsApp groups, Telegram lists. Own your audience. |
| Syndication Agreements | Form LLM licensing deals. Use Creative Commons alternatives to force attribution. |
| Collective Legal Pressure | Join global publisher unions pursuing anti-Google regulatory action. EU has already begun |
Survive—or Die?
Google positions itself as “supportive of publishers,” but internal data, EU complaints, and Pichai’s latest statements paint a different picture. Post‑June 2025, publishers must adapt fast—or face extinction under Google’s AI dominance.
When Google tells us “trust the AI,” we must ask: who feeds the AI?
Author
Umair Khalid is a multi-disciplinary digital strategist, SEO technologist, and AI marketing advisor. He combines algorithmic knowledge, content architecture, and growth frameworks to help brands dominate in the age of AI-powered search. Explore more at umairkhalid.com