Googleâs AI Steals Traffic, Blames âHealthy Ecosystemâ
At a May 2025 AI summit in New York, Google VP Markham Erickson defended using AI summaries atop search results despite a lawsuit from Penske Media Corporation, Rolling Stone's parent. Penske claims Googleâs AI is the digital equivalent of a vampire sucking website traffic dry, shrinking publishersâ revenue. Erickson claims users prefer AI's 'contextual summaries' over traditional '10 blue links,' promising to keep both alive in a 'dynamic space'âwhich translates to 'weâre stealing your clicks but still acting like the good guy.' Opening play: free links to billions of sites; closing move: crushing their business under 'healthy ecosystem' jargon.
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Googleâs AI summaries are like that friend who âborrowsâ your car without asking, then insists itâs for everyoneâs benefit. Except, instead of gas money, itâs stealing publisher revenue, and instead of a car, itâs your entire livelihood.
Google now offers 'contextual AI summaries' that actually summarize down to 'no clicks needed,' perfectly mirroring Googleâs attitude towards journalists: useful until not.
Penske sues Googleâs AI for traffic theft; Google replies theyâre just âensuring ecosystem health.â Next time my landlord skips rent, Iâll say itâs for my apartmentâs âdynamic space.â
Source: Theverge | Published: 9/15/2025 | Author: Elissa Welle
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