May 2025 – AI eats clicks: After a 55% loss in traffic, the media company 'Business Insider' has to lay off 21% of its workforce

The “Zero-Click” Apocalypse: Why 69% of Google searches for media are now worthless

May 2025 marked a dramatic turning point for the digital media landscape when Business Insider, under the leadership of CEO Barbara Peng, was forced to lay off over a fifth of its workforce. But this was not an isolated failure; it was the most pronounced symptom yet of a tectonic shift triggered by the AI ​​revolution. Technologies like Google's AI Overviews and conversational AIs like ChatGPT have fundamentally changed the way we search for and consume information. An unprecedented collapse in website traffic—over 55 percent in three years for Business Insider—is the direct result. Users are getting answers directly on search platforms, fueling the trend of "zero-click searches" and depriving traditional publishers of their lifeblood: traffic. The Business Insider case exemplifies a crisis that has gripped the entire industry. From CNN to the Washington Post, media companies worldwide are grappling with the same existential challenges. This change is forcing publishers to radically realign themselves and is calling into question not only their business models, but also the future of independent journalism in the digital age.

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What happened at Business Insider in May 2025?

In May 2025, Axel Springer's Business Insider experienced one of the most dramatic restructurings in its corporate history. On May 29, the company announced massive layoffs affecting approximately 21 percent of its total workforce. These cuts were not limited to a single department but permeated the entire company, impacting every area of ​​the organization. The decision came as a surprise to many employees, even though it was part of a strategic realignment that had begun 18 months earlier.

The layoffs were announced via a company-wide memo, informing affected employees by email. Within just 15 minutes of the initial announcement, those affected received detailed information about the next steps. This method of communication underscored the dramatic nature and speed of the measures the company deemed necessary.

CEO Peng explained that approximately 70% of Business Insider's business relied on online traffic. While Business Insider did not publicly disclose the exact number of affected employees, various media outlets estimated the figure to be over 100, or roughly 150 positions. The Insider Union confirmed that approximately 20% of its union members were affected by the layoffs.

Who is Barbara Peng and what role did she play?

Barbara Peng was CEO of Business Insider at the time of the layoffs and was the central figure in communicating and implementing the drastic measures. In her role as CEO, she took full responsibility for the difficult decision and communicated it both internally and to the media. Eighteen months prior to the layoffs, Peng had initiated a strategic realignment of the company, aimed at returning Business Insider to its roots as a focused platform for business, technology, and innovation journalism.

In her public statements, Peng was deliberately transparent about the challenges the company faced. She described the layoffs as “very difficult” but necessary to build a sustainable business model. Her communication strategy was characterized by directly addressing the problems, particularly the company's dependence on traffic and the need to protect itself against external influences beyond its control.

What were the main reasons for the layoffs?

The primary reason for the dramatic staff reductions was extreme traffic declines beyond the company's direct control. Barbara Peng explained in her internal memo that approximately 70 percent of Business Insider's business was sensitive to traffic fluctuations. This reliance on external traffic sources made the company vulnerable to changes in the digital landscape that it could not influence.

A key factor was the structural shift in how people consume information. Traditional methods of information gathering via search engines and social media were fundamentally altered by the rise of AI-powered answer engines. This development led to users increasingly remaining directly on the platforms of technology companies, rather than clicking through to the websites of the original content providers.

Management recognized that the company needed a structural reorganization to weather this volatility. Peng emphasized that Business Insider had to be scaled down to a size that would allow it to absorb significant traffic declines without jeopardizing its core business. This realization led to the drastic decision to lay off more than a fifth of the workforce.

How significant was the traffic decline at Business Insider?

Business Insider experienced unprecedented traffic losses, plunging the company into an existential crisis. According to data from Similarweb, a leading web analytics provider, Business Insider saw a dramatic 55 percent drop in traffic between April 2022 and April 2025. These figures illustrate the scale of the challenges the company faced.

Further analysis revealed that the situation worsened in 2025. Various reports and data sources document a traffic decline of 40 to 50 percent compared to the previous year. These massive losses hit Business Insider particularly hard, as the company had historically relied heavily on organic search traffic. Traditionally, around 70 percent of its traffic came from search engines, significantly increasing its vulnerability to algorithm changes and new AI features.

The speed of the decline was as alarming as its magnitude. Reports indicated that the traffic loss was not gradual, but rather reached dramatic proportions in a relatively short period. These sudden and drastic changes forced management to make swift and far-reaching decisions to ensure the company's survival.

Which AI technologies caused the traffic losses?

The decline in traffic to Business Insider and other media companies was primarily due to the introduction and proliferation of various AI-powered search technologies. At the heart of this development was Google's AI Overviews, a feature rolled out to all US users in May 2024 that displays AI-generated summaries directly within search results. This technology allowed users to find answers to their questions directly on the search results page, without having to click through to the original sources.

In addition to Google's AI Overviews, standalone AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude contributed to the traffic losses. ChatGPT became the fifth most visited website worldwide by 2025, surpassing established platforms like Twitter and Wikipedia. These AI chatbots answered user questions directly, thereby reducing the need to visit external websites.

The introduction of Google's AI Mode further accelerated this trend. This feature enabled a ChatGPT-like, conversational search experience and completely replaced the traditional search results page. Taken together, these technologies led to a fundamental shift in user behavior, with information gathering increasingly taking place directly on the platforms of technology companies, rather than via the websites of the original content providers.

How did the company react strategically to the crisis?

Business Insider responded to the traffic crisis with a comprehensive strategic realignment encompassing several pillars. A key measure was a complete overhaul of its content strategy. The company ended the majority of its commerce business, which was heavily reliant on search engine traffic, and instead focused on high-quality, authoritative reporting in its core areas of business, technology, and innovation.

At the same time, Business Insider increasingly relied on AI technologies to boost efficiency. Over 70 percent of its employees were already using Enterprise ChatGPT, with the goal of 100 percent adoption. The company developed prompt libraries and shared use cases to increase productivity and achieve better work outcomes. This AI integration enabled the company to deliver similar or better results with fewer staff.

Another strategic pillar was the diversification of revenue streams through the launch of BI Live, a new events division. This initiative aimed to build more direct connections with the target audience and become less dependent on external traffic sources. The company also focused on content that generated strong reader engagement and invested in personalized content for loyal subscribers. This multifaceted strategy was designed to make Business Insider more resilient to fluctuations in external traffic.

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Which other media companies were affected?

The traffic crisis was by no means limited to Business Insider, but affected the entire media landscape to varying degrees. CNN recorded a traffic decline of approximately 30 percent compared to the previous year. HuffPost experienced similarly dramatic losses, with a drop of around 40 percent. These figures illustrate that even established and widely read media brands were not immune to the effects of the AI ​​revolution.

The Washington Post, one of the most prestigious American news outlets, also reported significant traffic losses of approximately 50 percent. Other major publishers, such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and various Condé Nast publications, also reported noticeable declines. The losses affected both traditional news outlets and specialized publications and lifestyle magazines.

What was particularly noteworthy was that the impact was felt across all sectors. Educational platforms like Chegg reported a 49 percent decline. Even established media companies like DMG Media, which owns MailOnline and Metro, saw click-through rate drops of up to 89 percent for certain search queries. This universal impact demonstrated that the transformation of the digital information landscape affected all players, regardless of their size or prestige.

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What is Google AI Overviews and how does it work?

Google AI Overviews represents a fundamental shift in how search results are presented. The feature was rolled out to all US users in May 2024 and later expanded to over 200 countries and 40 languages. AI Overviews automatically generates summaries of search queries and presents them prominently at the top of the search results page, often before traditional blue links to external websites appear.

The technology uses large language models to synthesize information from various sources and generate a coherent answer. It extracts relevant facts, data, and insights from all available web content and processes them into an understandable summary. These AI-generated answers appear in approximately 20 percent of all US desktop search queries, a figure that seems to have stabilized at this level after initial growth.

The system allows users to often satisfy their information needs directly on the Google page without having to visit external websites. While Google occasionally includes links to sources in AI Overviews, these are less prominently placed than in traditional search results. The introduction of AI Mode further amplified this trend by enabling a fully conversational search experience that completely replaced traditional search result lists.

What impact do AI search tools have on the media industry?

The impact of AI search tools on the media industry is far-reaching and profound. The most fundamental shift is evident in the drastic reduction of click-through rates. Studies by the Pew Research Center documented a drop in click-through rates from 15 percent to 8 percent when AI overviews appear in search results—a relative reduction of 46.7 percent. This development undermines the traditional business model of online media, which relies on traffic-based advertising revenue.

The rise of so-called “zero-click searches” significantly exacerbates this problem. According to Similarweb data, by 2025, 69 percent of all search queries will end without a single click on organic search results. This means that more than two-thirds of all search queries will be processed entirely on the platforms of search engine providers, without the original content providers benefiting.

The economic consequences are dramatic. Organic traffic to news sites fell from over 2.3 billion monthly visits in mid-2024 to under 1.7 billion by May 2025—a loss of more than 600 million monthly visits in just a few months. This development is forcing media companies to undergo fundamental strategic realignments as their traditional revenue streams erode. Many publishers are now compelled to reduce their reliance on external platforms and build more direct relationships with their readers.

How is the trend of 'zero-click searches' developing?

The trend toward zero-click searches has become one of the defining characteristics of the changing digital information landscape. Between 2024 and 2025, the proportion of search queries that ended without clicking on external links rose from 56 percent to an impressive 69 percent. This development means that more than two-thirds of all search queries are now processed entirely within search engine ecosystems, without involving the original content creators.

The speed of this development surprised even industry experts. While previous algorithm changes usually had gradual effects, AI features led to abrupt and dramatic shifts in user behavior. ChatGPT quickly became the fifth most visited website worldwide, overtaking established platforms like Wikipedia and Twitter, while referral traffic from these AI platforms to external websites remained minimal.

Particularly worrying for publishers is the low conversion rate of AI searches to website visits. Data shows that only about 0.1 percent of search queries on AI platforms result in clicks to external publisher websites. This illustrates that AI tools are not just an alternative source of information, but are actually diverting the flow of information away from the original sources. Forecasts indicate that this trend will intensify, with estimates suggesting that AI-generated traffic could surpass traditional search traffic as early as 2028.

What are the long-term consequences of this development?

The long-term consequences of the AI ​​revolution in information retrieval are profound and will fundamentally change the media landscape. Experts predict a further acceleration of this change, especially if Google AI Mode becomes the standard search experience. This could lead to a complete paradigm shift, with traditional search result lists being replaced by conversational AI interfaces.

This poses an existential challenge for the media industry. The International News Media Association (INMA) pessimistically predicts that organic search traffic could shrink “almost to zero” in the next two to three years. Between May 2024 and February 2025, traditional search referrals already fell by more than 64 million, while the increase in AI chatbot referrals, at only 5.5 million, was far from sufficient to compensate for these losses.

The societal implications are equally significant. If AI systems increasingly function as the primary source of information, this could lead to a concentration of information power in the hands of a few large technology companies. Independent journalism and diverse voices could be marginalized, as AI systems tend to rely on established and frequently referenced sources. This raises questions about the future of diversity of opinion and democratic opinion-forming that extend far beyond the economic challenges facing the media industry.

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What strategies are publishers developing in response?

In light of these dramatic changes, publishers are developing various survival strategies to reduce their dependence on external traffic sources. A key strategy is building direct relationships with readers through newsletters, apps, and subscription models. Publishers are increasingly investing in owned media channels that they can fully control, rather than relying on the whims of external platforms.

Diversifying revenue streams is central to many realignments. Many media companies are reducing their reliance on advertising-based models and instead focusing on events, premium content, e-commerce, and consulting services. Business Insider, for example, launched BI Live as an events platform, while other publishers are developing similar initiatives for direct reader interaction.

At the same time, many publishers are optimizing their content for the new AI-dominated landscape. This includes structuring content for featured snippets, using schema markup, and creating FAQ-based content. Some are also experimenting with integrating their own AI tools to increase efficiency, while simultaneously trying to position their human expertise as a differentiator. These multifaceted approaches aim to make publishers more resilient to external algorithm changes and to develop more sustainable business models.

The events at Business Insider in May 2025 marked a turning point in the digital media landscape. The drastic layoffs, led by CEO Barbara Peng, were not merely a reaction to acute traffic losses, but highlighted the fundamental challenges facing the entire industry. The shifts in user behavior brought about by AI technologies such as Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT have shaken the traditional business model of online journalism to its core.

The speed and scale of the transformation have surprised even industry experts. What could have happened gradually over years unfolded within a few months, with dramatic consequences for companies and employees. The shift towards zero-click searches and the increasing concentration of information power in the hands of a few large technology companies pose not only economic but also democratic challenges.

Nevertheless, the publishers' reactions also point to ways in which the industry can adapt to the new realities. Focusing on direct reader relationships, diversifying revenue streams, and strategically integrating AI tools to increase efficiency point toward more sustainable business models. The Business Insider case will go down in media history as a cautionary tale—an example of how quickly established structures can change in the digital age and how companies are forced to radically reinvent themselves in order to survive.

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