Google has remained a stable source of traffic to news publishers over the past year. Although many websites have seen their traffic significantly impacted by Google’s AI Overviews, Chartbeat data shows that for 565 U.S. and UK news publishers:

  • Search referrals made up 19% of traffic in July, little changed since early 2019.
  • Google dominates search traffic: 96% of publisher referrals.
How publisher traffic referral types are stacking up. How publisher traffic referral types are stacking up.

Yes, but. “Search” here includes Google Discover, which is not traditional search. Discover is now the primary driver of Google referrals.

Why we care. Search traffic hasn’t collapsed. However, the stability is somewhat masked by a shift from traditional Google Search to Google Discover.

Dig deeper. Google says AI is boosting Search. Yes, but…

Direct traffic is shaky. Efforts to build a loyal, “type-in” audience have largely stalled, leaving publishers more dependent on Google and aggregators. Direct traffic to homepages and landing pages has fallen to 11.5% from a pandemic-era high of 16.3%.

Social keeps sinking. Social’s decline means fewer diversified referral sources:

  • Facebook referrals are down 50% since 2019, despite a recent bump.
  • X traffic is down 75% vs. 2019.
  • Only Reddit is surging – up 220% since 2019, boosted by Google visibility and an AI training deal (but it still sends less referrals than Facebook and X).

The report. Publisher traffic sources: Google steady but social and direct referrals are down, as reported by PressGazette

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Danny GoodwinDanny Goodwin

Danny Goodwin is Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & Search Marketing Expo – SMX. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as Senior Editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land’s SME (Subject Matter Expert) program. He also helps program U.S. SMX events. Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.