Google accused of stealing journalism in AI Overviews lawsuit
What's the story
Penske Media, the parent company of major publications like Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Variety, has sued Google. The lawsuit alleges that Google's artificial intelligence (AI) summaries use Penske's journalism without consent and hurt traffic to its websites. This is the first time a major US publisher has sued the tech giant over AI-generated summaries appearing on its search results.
Traffic impact
Google forces publishers into a Catch-22 situation
Penske alleges that Google forces publishers into a Catch-22: agree to have their work used in these summaries or be excluded from appearing in Google Search. The company claims that this practice has caused site traffic to drop significantly, eroding affiliate and advertising revenues Penske said, "We have a responsibility to proactively fight for the future of digital media and preserve its integrity - all of which is threatened by Google's current actions."
Revenue drop
Impact on traffic and revenue
Penske Media claims that around 20% of Google searches linking to its sites now show AI Overviews. This figure has increased steadily, as per the publisher. Affiliate revenue, which depends on traffic from search results, has fallen by over one-third since its peak in 2024, according to Penske. The publisher says its ability to monetize content suffers because users often consume the AI summaries instead of clicking through to full articles.
AI benefits
Google defends AI Overviews amid lawsuit
Responding to the lawsuit, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said these overviews improve user experience and direct traffic to a wider range of websites. He added that "with AI Overviews, people find Search more helpful and use it more," creating new opportunities for content discovery. But Penske disputes this, contending that without compensation or licensing agreements, Google is unfairly benefiting from content it didn't create. The lawsuit brands this as an antitrust issue, given Google's substantial market dominance in search.
Market dominance
Concerns about Google's dominance in the industry
Danielle Coffey, CEO of the News/Media Alliance, a trade group representing over 2,200 US-based publishers, criticized Google's market power. She said, "All of the elements being negotiated with every other AI company doesn't apply to Google because they have the market power to not engage in those healthy practices." "When you have the massive scale and market power that Google has, you are not obligated to abide by the same norms. That is the problem."