Google announced Oct. 15, 2026, it would increase the prominence and number of links within its AI Overviews and AI Mode, even as publishers in France reported significant traffic declines and a lack of crucial data.
The move by the Alphabet Inc. subsidiary comes amid growing concerns from news organizations regarding the impact of AI summaries on referral traffic and their ability to monetize content, according to industry reports.
Google stated that certain queries would feature one or two prominent links, aiming to direct users to source material. The company also reported a sevenfold increase in the usage of its ‘Preferred Sources’ feature and expanded news article carousels to new regions and languages.
However, news sites experienced a 40 percent drop in Google traffic between July 2025 and July 2026, coinciding with the broader rollout of AI summaries, Chartbeat reported, as cited by French newspaper Le Figaro.
Despite these changes, Google continues to withhold click data specifically from its AI responses in performance reports, preventing publishers from accurately measuring the effectiveness of the new link formats, Search Engine Roundtable’s Barry Schwartz noted.
The Alliance de la presse d’information générale (Apig), a French press association, has referred Google to the Autorité de la concurrence, France’s competition authority. Apig alleges that Google’s AI summaries violate 2022 agreements concerning neighboring rights for publishers.
The dispute highlights a broader tension between Google and news publishers, who rely heavily on search engine referrals for audience engagement and advertising revenue.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has previously emphasized the company’s commitment to supporting the news ecosystem, but publishers maintain that transparency regarding traffic data is essential for their business models.
The Autorité de la concurrence is expected to review Apig’s complaint, potentially leading to further regulatory scrutiny of Google’s AI-driven search features in Europe.
Source: Abondance
