by Sara Vincent, Managing Director UK, Utiq
The ground is shifting beneath publishers’ feet, and the tremors are impossible to ignore. In recent months, I’ve spoken with independent publishers across Europe who are grappling with a stark new reality: referral traffic from search engines, once a cornerstone of their business models, is plummeting at an alarming rate. Some report declines of 25%. Others are seeing drops as steep as 70%.
The culprit? There is more than one, but AI overviews are one of the largest factors in fundamentally changing how users interact with search results. As a consumer, why would you click through to a publisher’s site when Google can synthesise an answer right there on the search results page?
This shift hasn’t happened gradually, over several years; it’s arrived suddenly, with startling force, leaving publishers scrambling to respond.
The uncomfortable truth about AI content deals
Faced with this existential threat, some publishers are exploring deals with AI companies to ensure their content appears in these overview summaries. It’s a logical response, but one with significant limitations. The uncomfortable truth is that AI platforms don’t need to scrape 50 sports sites to generate match commentary – three or four quality sources provide more than enough material for the concise answers users are seeking.
This means only a handful of publishers in each vertical will secure these agreements, leaving the vast majority out in the cold. Even for those lucky few who do strike deals, there’s no guarantee of fair compensation or meaningful traffic recovery.
Dwindling traffic demands a new mindset
Whatever strategy publishers pursue to counter declining search traffic, one fundamental imperative remains: maximising the value of every single visitor who does reach your site. This brings us back to a concept that’s been discussed ad nauseam in our industry – first-party data.
I know what you’re thinking: “Not this again”. But bear with me, because while the importance of first-party data isn’t new, the urgency surrounding it absolutely is. Publishers can no longer afford to treat this as a nice-to-have or a long-term project.
It needs to be a core focus, right now.
The reality is that solutions exist today that can deliver genuine addressability, enabling publishers to leverage the valuable first-party data they collect from their loyal users. This isn’t about some distant future state – it’s about taking action with the tools available now to build more resilient, sustainable businesses.
Quality matters – but not all first-party data is created equal
Here’s where things get interesting, and where many publishers trip up: not all first-party data delivers the same value. The quality, accuracy and scope of your first-party data determines how effectively you can monetise it.
Traditional approaches often rely on logged-in states or cookies that fragment your audience view across devices and sessions. What publishers need is a solution that provides genuine cross-device addressability – connecting the dots between the same user on mobile, desktop and connected TV – while maintaining the highest privacy standards.
Cross-device addressability: the revenue opportunity hiding in plain sight
Think about what proper addressability enables: more accurate audience insights, better campaign measurement, reduced ad fraud, and the ability to offer advertisers the precision targeting they demand without compromising user privacy. For publishers struggling with declining traffic, this represents a genuine opportunity to increase yield on the audiences they do retain.
Moreover, advertisers are increasingly willing to pay premium rates for inventory that delivers proven, addressable audiences at scale. In an environment where third-party cookies are disappearing and alternative identifiers are fragmented across competing standards, publishers who can offer clean, consented, cross-device addressability have a significant competitive advantage.
Privacy as a feature, not an obstacle
The good news is that prioritising first-party data and implementing robust addressability solutions doesn’t mean compromising on privacy – quite the opposite. Today’s privacy-compliant approaches, built on data minimisation and transparent consent mechanisms, actually strengthen the publisher-reader relationship.
Users are increasingly sophisticated about data practices. They are willing to share information when they understand the value exchange and trust the publisher. Therefore, privacy-first solutions are building the foundation of reader trust that underpins long-term loyalty.
The traffic losses from AI overviews aren’t temporary, and publishers who wait for the dust to settle, or hope for a regulatory intervention, are likely to find themselves fighting for survival. The answer lies in focusing intensely on the audiences you do have, implementing solutions that maximise the value of every engagement, and building addressability capabilities that transform your first-party data from a theoretical asset into a genuine revenue driver.
The technology exists. The solutions are available today. What’s required now is the will to prioritise this work and the commitment to implement it with urgency. Because in a world where your traffic is under siege, making every remaining visitor count isn’t just good practice – it’s existential.
