Google Just Cut News Traffic in Half (51% → 27%) - Now What?
Release Date: 12/25/2025
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info_outlineE904: New data shows a massive decline in Google Search traffic to news publishers. Here’s what this means for anyone relying on organic traffic to survive.
According to recent analysis, Google Search traffic to news sites has dropped from 51% to 27% over the past two years. At the same time, publishers have become increasingly dependent on Google Discover, a traffic source that is volatile, unpredictable, and difficult to control.
I walk through the data, reactions from the SEO and publishing community, and then share my honest take on whether traditional news publishing is still a viable standalone business model - and what publishers should be doing instead.
What this covers:
- The exact numbers behind Google’s traffic shift to news publishers
- Why Google Discover now drives the majority of publisher traffic
- Why Discover is risky as a primary traffic source
- How recent core updates have accelerated the decline
- How news consumption habits have changed beyond Google
- The role AI and LLMs are playing in reducing search clicks
- Why pure news publishing is an increasingly fragile business model
What I recommend for publishers:
- Why abandoning your website is the wrong move
- How to use existing domain and topical authority as a real asset
- Why publishers are uniquely positioned to launch niche web apps
- How bottom-of-funnel SEO pages can drive purchase intent traffic
- Why products and tools create more durable revenue than ads
- How feedback from search traffic can guide product development
I also share examples of how simple SaaS products can be built, monetized, and iterated on using SEO insights - and why this approach is far more resilient than depending solely on news traffic.
This episode is for:
- News publishers seeing declining search traffic
- SEOs working with media sites
- Founders thinking about diversification
- Anyone trying to build a more stable, search-driven business
This is episode 904 of the podcast - 904 days in a row.
⭐️ Source - https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-traffic-drops-news-publishers-40645.html
⭐️ Episode with Shaun Savvy - 901 - “He Updated a Blog Post to the Future - Google Ranked It” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb9SDSSA6FQ
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 Introduction: Shocking Drop in Google Search Traffic
00:43 The Shift to Google Discover
02:08 Community Reactions and Comments
04:05 Diversifying Beyond Traditional News Publishing
05:14 SEO Strategies for Web Publishers
10:05 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #seo #newspublishers #searchtraffic