Search is changing, but so are the preferences and behaviours of audiences

There is no doubt that Web search is changing, and, if you ask me, not for the better. Overall, search results have become less effective, making researching for relevant information more challenging.

AI-powered search engines and assistants seriously impact how we find information and news. We know that hyper-links to news sites — or any information — have become rare. Plus, the news has become less visible on platforms, as I observed in 2023.

What does this mean for news companies?

There seem to be some contrasting views about how search is evolving and what the ramifications are for news publishers.

Reportedly, some publishers in the United States and United Kingdom have seen sharp declines in referral traffic from Google over the past year. On average, U.S. online publishers have witnessed a 10% decline in Google traffic.

Other data shows Google has remained a steady source of referral traffic. Chartbeat data reveals Google’s search referrals for 565 U.S. and U.K. publishers have remained at the same level since early 2019, making up 19% of news publishers’ referrals.

I argue that the picture is more nuanced than it seems on the surface. How the traffic to news is flowing is not just dependent on Google or AI, but also on audience behaviour and actions of news companies themselves.

The data

My 2018 research article notes 24% of New Zealand’s news companies’ total traffic came from social media, with 67% of traffic coming either directly or from search to their site. My yet-unpublished research shows that, from 2018 to 2025, traffic to major news sites in New Zealand has substantially declined and traffic sources have become more diverse.

For stuff.co.nz, referrals from sources other than organic search have become more prevalent, while for nzherald.co.nz, search traffic has increased. The nature of their site referrals has changed. Yahoo, Wikipedia, Reddit, and ChatGPT have emerged as important drivers of traffic, reflecting changes in audiences’ information-seeking patterns and content consumption.

The data collected from publicly available sources (including SimilarWeb and Semrush) shows that, in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom, Google and YouTube are the most visited Web sites, reflecting Google’s dominance.

YouTube’s position may well reflect the creator economy and news organisations’ shift to deliver content on YouTube channels. When this happens, it is YouTube that potentially drives traffic, not Google search.

Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, ChatGPT, and Wikipedia are also among the 10 most visited Web sites in the mentioned countries, potentially acting as alternative referral channels to the news.

What this tells us is that how and where people consume content keeps evolving, and the channels where people seek information and entertainment have become more diverse. This diversity is most certainly reflected in referral numbers.

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