Today’s MarketingZiff Davis Google referrals fall 37 percent as AI Overviews take the clicks
Ziff Davis chief executive Vivek Shah told analysts on November 6 that organic Google referrals to CNET, IGN, PCMag and the company’s other sites fell 37 percent in the third quarter, after a 23 percent drop a year earlier. Search Console data showed Ziff Davis content appearing in AI Overviews and AI Mode 2.7 billion times, close to ten times the clicks the company received from Google Search. Third quarter revenue, reported on November 5, fell 5.6 percent to $289.3 million. Shah said the company is not planning on a search recovery.
Our take
If your traffic plan still waits for Google Search to recover, rewrite it. A publisher of CNET and IGN just told the market it is done waiting, after seeing 2.7 billion AI search appearances turn into a fraction of clicks. Build email, apps, social commerce and video paths that you own, and treat AI Overview citations as brand exposure you measure separately from sessions. Check your own Search Console appearance counts against clicks this week so you can show leadership the same gap.
