Google's AI Summaries Steal Traffic, Nightmare for French Media: Media Alliance Files Complaint

(Central News Agency reporter Tseng I-Hsuan, Paris, May 11) — Global tech giant Google launched its new search engine feature 'AI Overviews' in France this July, sparking concerns among media outlets about declining website traffic. The Alliance of French General Information Publishers (APIG), representing over 300 media organizations, has today filed a formal complaint with regulatory authorities.

The new tool provides AI-generated summaries directly in search results, allowing users to grasp key information without clicking through to original articles—posing a direct threat to news websites' traffic.

France's Les Echos reported that Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, criticized AI companies for stealing intellectual property and endangering journalism during the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) annual media conference in Marseille in June.

He warned: 'Even if everything seems calm on the surface now, remember that the first waves signal an approaching tsunami.'

The report highlights that media's greatest fear is readers bypassing articles entirely to read only summaries, which could drastically reduce website traffic, ad revenue, reader engagement, and overall visibility.

Le Figaro reported that APIG argues Google's AI generates summaries based on content from numerous media outlets and displays them above the original article links. The AI Overviews and AI Mode services were rolled out without proper negotiation, leaving media to face a fait accompli.

Google has already launched the AI Overviews feature in around 200 countries worldwide, with France being a later adopter.

APIG today called on competition regulators to review the matter, clarifying that this action is not about shutting down dialogue but about resetting the negotiation framework.

APIG stated: 'Media are not opposed to innovation. The very existence of these services proves that journalistic content is indispensable to generative AI. We are willing to provide content and support new uses within a balanced framework based on negotiated licensing and fair compensation reflecting the value our content creates.'

According to APIG data, up to 70% of French news websites' traffic currently comes via Google.

Les Echos cited early data from other countries, which paints a grim picture. A 2025 Pew Research Center study in the U.S. found that click-through rates on search results dropped from 15% to 8% when AI summaries were present—nearly halved.

Bertrand Gié, news director at Le Figaro, said: 'In countries where Google has already implemented AI, newspaper website traffic has declined by 20% to over 50%, varying by country and media type. Content on evergreen topics like health appears to be most affected.'

Gié and many industry figures believe French media sites will inevitably see traffic declines, with some estimating drops of up to 30%. He added: 'Beyond losing ad revenue, attracting new subscribers will become harder. For example, half of Le Figaro’s subscribers sign up after hitting our paywall.'

He emphasized: 'Our content is not only being exploited by AI companies but is being used to generate content that directly competes with us—this is a double blow.'

A few media executives remain cautiously optimistic about AI's potential. Louis Dreyfus, Executive Committee Chair of Le Monde Group, suggested that AI companies could offer an additional channel for media to reach new audiences and younger generations. (Edited by Chang Chih-Hsuan) 1150811