"Google has no plans to build a standardized API or universal licensing system for news content, the company's search chief said last week, pushing back on proposals from media advocates who see such arrangements as the industry's best path to AI-era revenue. "The short answer is no," Nick Fox, Google's SVP of knowledge and information, told me on the AI Inside podcast when asked whether Google would pursue a standardized licensing model."
"Fox's comments come as publishers continue to grapple with declining referral traffic and an uncertain relationship with AI-powered search. A Seer Interactive study released in September found organic click-through rates fell 61% on queries featuring AI Overviews, with paid CTRs dropping 68%. Separate research from Bain & Company published in February found that 80% of consumers now rely on AI summaries in at least 40% of their searches, reducing organic web traffic by an estimated 15% to 25%."
Google will not build a standardized API or universal licensing system for news content and will emphasize driving traffic and links as the core partnership mechanism with publishers. Nick Fox, Google's SVP of knowledge and information, explicitly rejected a standardized licensing model and framed traffic-based integration as the pathway forward. Publishers are experiencing sharp declines in referral traffic and click-through rates tied to AI Overviews and AI summaries. Studies report organic CTR drops around 61%, paid CTR declines near 68%, and estimated organic traffic reductions of 15% to 25%. Google has simultaneously noted both increases in pages crawled and concerns about the open web's decline.
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