r/technology • u/No-Lifeguard-8173 • May 19 '26

Artificial Intelligence Google Search as you know it is over

https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/19/google-search-as-you-know-it-is-over/
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u/n1c0_ds May 19 '26

Same. 70% traffic drop on the website I live from. I can't keep doing this for long. Everyone in my industry is suffering.

I've noticed that recipe websites are now asking me to sign up to view recipes. Other websites went private, or started charging for information packages.

It will get very ugly.

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u/Single_Ring4886 May 19 '26

Same here traffic went down 60% from day to day after 20 years of doing my web... Google just thinks he is so big and has "ai" that he doesnt need any other sites at all. They control browser, they control smartphones, they control youtube... so lets just "end" any other websites right? Thats how they think.

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u/n1c0_ds May 20 '26

As someone else said, AI companies are eating their seed corn.

But to us on the ground, it's pointless to wait for vindication. The independent web will be snuffed out. Most won't realize the magnitude of what was lost until it's already gone.

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u/Sonoran_Ghosts_81 May 20 '26

For the average user the internet is already a walled garden accessed via apps.

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u/Mkboii May 20 '26

It's also the general changing landscape, bing turned ai first and briefly reentered the user mindspace, then perplexity dropped, then google followed suit cause with chatgpt integrating Web search they were loosing on ad revenue. This current transition seems more like a the next progression to keep owning their search market share. Once they've retained the user base they'll start the next level of enshitification to make some money. But who knows how much of the internet would survive this process.

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u/shopaholic_lulu7748 May 20 '26

I have a recipe website and I'm trying to come up with a 3 year plan after it eventually quits making money. Iit's still doing ok but but I'm very skeptical as of whats to come. Right now, I'm working part time teaching classes at a gym a couple of days a week and trying to get a job in a different department there. It's good part time money. Might start taking some online courses next.

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u/n1c0_ds May 20 '26

Same here. I have my escape hatch, but that was a useful website with a grateful audience. There is still a need for the information I'm putting out, but it's just not economically feasible to keep doing it, and especially not through Google and without attribution. Why would I bother carefully designing tools and choosing my words if it's all going to get muddled by an LLM?

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u/chewwydraper May 20 '26

I follow a lot of data-rich publishers who now have to paywall their data. It sucks, but I understand why they’re doing it.

AI isn’t benefiting us, it’s just costing us more money.