‘AI Overviews’ draining traffic: What can Bangladeshi news sites do to survive?

If you are a regular internet user, you have likely noticed that Google now displays a quick summary at the top of search results, answering your question without requiring you to click any links. 

This feature, known as AI Overviews, uses artificial intelligence to generate instant summaries by pulling information from various sources. 

According to Google, it already produces over two billion AI Overview boxes every day in more than 40 languages. But the feature is notably absent in the European Union, where legal restrictions currently prevent its rollout.

While this makes finding information faster, recent research shows it is causing serious problems for news websites. 

A study by UK-based analytics firm Authoritas found that websites previously ranking first on Google could lose up to 79% of their traffic when their links appear below these AI summaries. 

"We don't yet have all the technological tools to fully grasp the implications. But what we have observed so far is definitely a cause for concern. We are not entirely sure how deeply we are being affected yet — but we expect the impact to grow, and we are actively looking for ways to respond to this emerging challenge." Shawkat Hossain Masum, Head of Online, Prothom Alo

The study also revealed that YouTube links, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, are given more prominent placement, raising concerns about unfair advantage. 

Another study by the Pew Research Center analysed nearly 69,000 Google searches and found that users clicked on links below AI summaries only once in every 100 searches. This sharp drop in referral clicks threatens the revenue of news publishers who depend on web traffic.

In response to these growing criticisms, Google has pushed back strongly. A company spokesperson, in a statement to The Guardian, dismissed the Authoritas study as "inaccurate and based on flawed assumptions and analysis", citing the use of outdated estimations and an unrepresentative set of search queries.

"People are gravitating to AI-powered experiences, and AI features in search enable people to ask even more questions, creating new opportunities for websites to be discovered," the spokesperson said. 

"We continue to send billions of clicks to websites every day, and we have not seen dramatic drops in aggregate web traffic as is being suggested."

More recently, on 6 August, Google Search head Liz Reid penned a blog post claiming that traffic from search to websites has remained "relatively stable," while the quality of clicks has improved.

"With AI Overviews, people are searching more and asking new questions that are often longer and more complex," Reid wrote. "In addition, with AI Overviews, people are seeing more links on the page than before. More queries and more links mean more opportunities for websites to surface and get clicked."

Still, media experts and digital rights groups around the world warn the damage is already happening. They accuse Google of trapping users inside its own ecosystem and using journalistic content to train AI tools without giving proper credit or compensation.

This trend is beginning to surface in Bangladesh as well, with leading digital news outlets reporting similar patterns. 

Shawkat Hossain Masum, Head of Online at Prothom Alo, acknowledged that while definite data in a local context remains elusive, early observations mirror global concerns. 

"We don't yet have all the technological tools to fully grasp the implications," Masum said. "But what we have observed so far is definitely cause for concern. We are not entirely sure how deeply we are being affected yet — but we expect the impact to grow, and we are actively looking for ways to respond to this emerging challenge."

Azad Baig, a digital media professional with over 12 years of experience, echoed these concerns. 

While the current drop in web traffic might appear modest, perhaps around 5-10%, he warned that the trend is troubling and likely to intensify over time.

According to Azad, the growing popularity of AI Overviews, especially among younger users who prefer quick, summarised content, means more people are consuming news directly on the search page rather than clicking through to news websites.

He highlighted how this development compounds an already challenging environment for digital publishers. Since 2023, traffic from social media platforms — a major source of referrals — has been steadily declining. 

"As users grow more accustomed to getting news at a glance, news websites may see a sharp drop in visits, leading to major consequences for digital revenue and audience engagement. The media industry must urgently rethink its strategies to adapt to this shifting landscape," Azad said. 

He advised against relying solely on search engines or social media for traffic. Instead, he urged publishers to build direct relationships with readers through newsletters, mobile applications, or even AI-powered chat platforms developed in-house. 

"Besides, they should emphasise on originality, storytelling and local reporting, which AI tools can't replicate. Exclusive stories, expert analysis, and explainers with depth will retain their value even in an AI-dominated search landscape," Azad added. 

Meanwhile, Sanjoy Basak Partha, Assistant Professor of Mass Communication and Journalism at Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), who is researching the impact of AI on newsrooms, noted that news organisations still have plenty to be concerned about, despite Google's dismissal of existing research.

He pointed out that most users tend to click on the very first response in a search result, which in this case is increasingly the AI-generated summary rather than the original news link. This change in behaviour disrupts traditional monetisation models that depend on referral traffic.

Partha believes the effects on media revenue will be profound, but he also emphasised the importance of source credibility. 

"Conscious users will continue to rely on reputable news websites, especially when seeking academic or sensitive information where AI's reliability remains limited," he said.

In fact, a February report by the BBC revealed that news summaries generated by major AI platforms, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot, Google's Gemini, and Perplexity AI, contained "significant inaccuracies" and frequently distorted BBC content. 

The investigation found that 51% of AI-generated responses to news-related questions had major issues, such as failing to distinguish between fact and opinion. 

Additionally, 19% of answers that cited BBC material included factual errors like incorrect dates, figures, or statements, while 13% of quoted content was either misrepresented or not found in the original BBC articles.

Even Google too acknowledges the limitations of generative AI, admitting that it "can and will make mistakes" as the technology remains "experimental and a work in progress".

Looking ahead, Partha called for a collective response from media houses worldwide. He said they should "hold dialogues with Google to explore new frameworks that ensure fair revenue sharing and visibility".

Adding nuance to the conversation, Sifullah Toha, an SEO expert, offered a slightly different perspective on the extent and nature of AI Overviews' impact. 

He agreed that AI summaries are indeed drawing traffic away from news media, but contested the notion that the loss could reach as high as 80%. 

According to him, such a severe decline is more plausible for e-commerce sites, which depend heavily on search-driven clicks. He added that news sites most affected tend to be those that heavily rely on SEO strategies and focus primarily on securing the top spot in Google search results.

The SEO expert further pointed out that Bangladesh is not facing as large a threat as Western countries, particularly because Bangladeshi audiences tend to rely more on social media than search engines for news discovery. Nevertheless, he advocates for adaptation in how news is presented online.

"Many people don't just search with keywords," Toha explained. "They search with questions. The strength of AI Overview is that it presents information in a question-and-answer format, which makes it easier to get quick, specific information."

He suggested that news outlets could capitalise on this shift by structuring stories in a FAQ-style format, which would appeal to users searching for clear, concise answers on specific topics. "I don't think anyone here has started this trend yet, but it can be helpful," he added.

Beyond that, Toha also emphasised the importance of producing in-depth, investigative, long-form and original reporting.

"When a story is exclusive to one site and not widely available elsewhere, AI struggles to generate an accurate summary," he explained. "To truly understand such content, users are compelled to visit the original website."