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by Sander Saar
Website traffic from traditional search engines drops dramatically as zero-click search becomes dominant. Along the way it covers The Extreme Rise of AI Scraping, Publishers Split Between Lawsuits and Licensing and Cloudflare's Content Independence Day. The web shifts towards a model that rewards original reporting and independent thought through fair payment.
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Website traffic from traditional search engines drops dramatically as zero-click search becomes dominant.
On screen: A man in a brown overshirt gestures animatedly while addressing the camera beneath changing statistical charts about Google scraping and ad revenue.
AI chatbots from OpenAI and Anthropic scrape thousands of pages per visitor, putting content monetization at risk.
On screen: A man addresses the camera while standing below an animated bar graph comparing scraping-to-visitor ratios for major AI companies.
Media outlets choose between suing AI companies for scraping data or licensing content directly.
On screen: A man addresses the camera overlaying Google search results about partnerships between OpenAI, News Corp, and Vox Media.
Cloudflare blocks AI scrapers by default and sets up a system to let publishers charge AI crawlers.
On screen: A man speaks to the camera against a background of a Cloudflare blog post titled Content Independence Day.
The web shifts towards a model that rewards original reporting and independent thought through fair payment.
On screen: The presenter concludes his commentary as graphic icons illustrating future web principles appear above him.
What the footage shows, shot by shot. It is derived from the video itself, independent of the commentary. Timestamps link to the exact second.
0:00–0:11 A man in a brown overshirt gestures animatedly while addressing the camera beneath changing statistical charts about Google scraping and ad revenue. On screen: Google Sending 3X Less Visitors Than 6 Months Ago (pa 2:1 10 years ago 6:1 6 months ago Today Source: CLOUDFLARE (pages scraped : visitor) 18:1 Google Wins,…
0:11–0:20 A man speaks directly to the camera with a scrolling Google AdSense website displayed in the background. On screen: Google AdSense Glamour Glow You create. We'll help you earn. AdSense m arn money from your content an independent creator or a l You're always in control, and…
0:20–0:26 A man in a brown jacket speaks directly to the camera over a scrolling webpage of Google Reader Revenue Manager case studies. On screen: Google Reader Revenue Manager Get started Success Stories See how other publications use Google tools to launch and support their reader revenue business.…
0:26–0:31 The presenter continues speaking while positioned in front of a bar chart showing zero-click search growth statistics. On screen: Zero-Click Searches Have Grown by 3.5X 10 years ago 6 months ago Today Source: CLOUDFLARE 25% 75% 90%
0:31–0:36 A man speaks over a screen recording showing Google Search in AI Mode answering a digital publishing query. On screen: AI Mode All Videos Short videos Images Forums how do digital publishers make money Thinking... As 6 sites Monetize Digital Content A Modern Publisher's Guide -…
0:36–0:40 The speaker appears over a web page displaying Google's core philosophy titled 'Ten things we know to be true'. On screen: G Ten things we know to be true We first wrote these “10 things” when Google was just a few years old. From time to time we revisit this list to see if it…
0:40–0:43 The presenter talks while a highlighted sentence from Google's philosophy document is emphasized on screen. On screen: 3. Fast is better than slow. We know your time is valuable, so when you're seeking an answer on the web you want it right away-and we aim to please. We may be…
0:43–0:52 A man addresses the camera against a white backdrop beneath a line chart illustrating the divergence between Google total ad revenue and publisher network revenue. On screen: Google Wins, Publishers Lose Google Total Ad Revenue (YoY Q1) Network Revenue - Publishers (YoY Q1) -0.2% +13% +8.5% -8.2% -1.2% -2% Q1 2022 Q1 2023 Q1 2024 Q1…
0:52–1:03 A man addresses the camera while standing below an animated bar graph comparing scraping-to-visitor ratios for major AI companies. On screen: AI Chat Apps Provide 3000X Less Traffic vs Scraping Google Anthropic Source: CLOUDFLARE 18:1 1,500:1 60,000:1
1:03–1:08 A man gestures and speaks in front of a Coatue chart illustrating Google search traffic decline following ChatGPT adoption. On screen: But some incumbents are starting to see headwinds Google page views (% growth) months after user starts ChatGPT 4% 2% 0% -2% -4% -6% -8% -10% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9…
1:08–1:11 The presenter talks in front of a scrolling Perplexity research interface about publisher monetization. On screen: perplexity how do digital publishers make money Perplexity Research About 2 minutes remaining To thoroughly answer how digital publishers make money, I will…
1:11–1:17 The video displays OpenAI sources behind the speaker before cutting to Cloudflare's CEO addressing an audience with a microphone. On screen: Sources perplexity Alternative Revenue Streams in Digital Publishin... How do digital publications make money? For many digital publishers, alternative revenue…
1:17–1:19 Matthew Prince speaks into a handheld microphone against an Axios Live backdrop. On screen: nan ures 2025
1:20–1:22 A presenter speaks in front of an infographic showing publisher categories. On screen: Publishers Are Divided SUING New York Times Reddit 8 Daily Newspapers DEALING News Corp: $250M Vox Media
1:22–1:27 The presenter discusses AI legal disputes against a background of search results. On screen: nyt vs openai AI Mode All News Videos Short videos Images Search Labs | AI Overview +7 The New York Times (NYT) is suing OpenAI, alleging copyright…
1:27–1:32 A man addresses the camera overlaying Google search results about partnerships between OpenAI, News Corp, and Vox Media. On screen: news corp openai partnership AI Mode All News Videos Images Short videos Search Labs | AI Overview AP +9 News Corp and OpenAI have entered into a multi-year…
1:32–1:38 The man continues explaining his point in front of Google search results for the Atlantic and OpenAI partnership. On screen: AI Mode All News Images Videos Short videos atlantic openai partnership Thinking... 7 sites Atlantic, Vox Media ink licensing, product deals with OpenAI -…
1:39–1:45 A man speaks to the camera against a background of a Cloudflare blog post titled Content Independence Day. On screen: CLOUDFLARE Content Independence Day: no AI crawl without compensation! 2025-07-01 Matthew Prince 4 min read Almost 30 years ago, two graduate students at…
1:45–1:49 The speaker continues presenting in front of a Cloudflare announcement for pay-per-crawl beta. On screen: CLOUDFLARE Announcing Cloudflare pay per crawl beta Empowering content creators and AI innovators alike Read the blog post
1:51–1:57 A man addresses the camera in front of a scrolling webpage detailing Cloudflare's pay per crawl feature. On screen: Get early access: Cloudflare pay per crawl beta Welcome to the private beta of Cloudflare's revolutionary pay per crawl feature. Join us in shaping the future…
1:57–2:02 The presenter continues speaking as the background switches to an article from Cloudflare about an AI labyrinth. On screen: CLOUDFLARE Trapping misbehaving bots in an AI Labyrinth 2025-03-19 Reid Tatoris Harsh Saxena Luis Miglietti 5 min read Today, we're releasing Scrapflyrinth, a…
2:02–2:07 A man talks to the camera in front of a graphic comparing past search engine behavior with current AI scraping. On screen: The Deal Has Changed THEN Google scrapes content Sends traffic back Publishers monetize NOW AI scrapes everything Answers directly Publishers get nothing
2:07–2:08 A man in a brown jacket speaks in front of a Google Search AI Overview page for cooking rice. On screen: how to cook rice AI Mode All Videos Short videos Forums Images Search Labs | AI Overview +5 To cook rice on the stove, you can use the following method, which…
2:08–2:12 A man gestures and speaks as a Google search results page displays AI-generated recipe instructions behind him. On screen: olive oil (if using), and salt to a medium saucepan. 3. Bring to a boil: Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. 4. Reduce heat and simmer: Once boiling,…
2:12–2:18 The presenter speaks directly to the camera over a scrolling background of Google recipe search results. On screen: How to cook rice 1 ingredient BBC Good Food Food52 https://food52.com How to cook rice? Apr 21, 2015 - Every time I make rice it comes out sticky. Forget…
2:18–2:24 The presenter concludes his commentary as graphic icons illustrating future web principles appear above him. On screen: The Future Web Permission-based Fair payment Real value
0:00 Speaker A: Google sent three times less traffic to websites compared to just six months ago. Speaker A: It used to be one visitor for every two pages scraped. Speaker A: Now it's one visitor for every 18 pages scraped. Speaker A: The independent web's business model just collapsed. Speaker A: For 30 years, there was a simple Google index their content and send traffic your way. Speaker A: This allowed websites from big publishers to small independents to establish their businesses by earning revenue through ads, subscriptions, or building an audience to monetize through their own products and services. Speaker A: But recently things shifted.
0:26 Speaker A: About 90% of Google searches are now answered directly on Google without ever sending traffic to another site, known as zero click search. Speaker A: Previously, it was Google's stated goal to get people off their site as quickly as possible, a principle that's still on their website. Speaker A: But now the tables have turned. Speaker A: While Google's total ad revenue is growing. Speaker A: Google's network ad revenue, the money that flows to publishers, accelerated its decline from minus one to minus 5% in just one quarter.
0:51 Speaker A: AI chatbots are making the trend even more extreme. Speaker A: While Google scrapes 18 pages per visitor, OpenAI now scrapes 1500 pages per visitor. Speaker A: And anthropic scrape staggering 60,000 pages per visitor. Speaker A: Studies show that people who use ChatGPT also use less of Google Search. Speaker A: When you can't sell ads because no one visits. Speaker A: When you can't sell subscriptions because AI summarize everything when you don't even know if anyone's reading your work, content creation suffers. Speaker A: As Cloudflare's CEO and if we don't fix this, the Internet's going to die.
1:19 Speaker A: Publishers are splitting into two camps. Speaker A: Some are suing like the New York Times versus OpenAI or Reddit versus Anthropic for scraping their data. Speaker A: Others are taking the money. Speaker A: News Corp got 250 million. Speaker A: Vox Media and the Atlantic have signed their deals. Speaker A: The problem? Speaker A: When you charge OpenAI but let everybody else scrape for free, you have no leverage. Speaker A: You can't have a market where you don't have scarcity. Speaker A: So Cloudflare, who handles 20% of Internet traffic, called July 1st Content Independence Day. Speaker A: They flipped the switch, and AI scrapers are now blocked by default.
1:46 Speaker A: They're changing the rules of the Internet. Speaker A: If you're a robot now, you have to go on the toll road. Speaker A: They've created a marketplace where publishers can charge AI companies directly each time they scrape. Speaker A: There's even something called AI Labyrinth. Speaker A: Well, Cloudflare's tool that feeds AI crawlers fake data to protect real content. Speaker A: The old web rewarded clickbait and content farms. Speaker A: Maybe the new one can reward content that is unique and actually advances human knowledge. Speaker A: We don't need 100 websites providing the same cooking recipe, but we do need independent thought, investigative journalism and creators to thrive.
2:16 Speaker A: The old paradigm is fading, but a new one is emerging. Speaker A: Based on permission, fair payment, and genuine value for original content, will you start charging bots for your content?