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 oversight, but the clearest 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 find answers directly on search platforms, fueling the trend of "zero-click searches" and depriving traditional publishers of their livelihood: traffic. The Business Insider case is exemplary of a crisis that has gripped the entire industry. From CNN to the Washington Post, media outlets around the world are grappling with the same existential challenges. This change is forcing publishers to radically reorient themselves and is calling into question not only their business models but also the future of independent journalism in the digital era.

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What happened at Business Insider in May 2025?

In May 2025, Business Insider at Axel Springer Verlag 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 entire workforce. These cuts were not limited to a single department, but pervasive throughout the company, touching 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 already begun 18 months earlier.

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

CEO Peng stated that approximately 70% of Business Insider's business relied on online traffic to some extent. Although Business Insider did not publicly disclose the exact number of affected employees, various media outlets estimated the number at over 100 employees, or approximately 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 served as 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. Peng had already initiated a strategic realignment of the company 18 months prior to the layoffs, 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 communications 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 cause of the dramatic staff cuts 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 exhibited some sensitivity to traffic fluctuations. This dependence on external traffic sources made the company vulnerable to changes in the digital landscape over which it could not influence.

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

Management recognized that the company needed to be structurally restructured to survive this volatility. Peng emphasized that Business Insider needed to be reduced 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 severe was the traffic decline at Business Insider?

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

Further analysis showed that the situation worsened further in 2025. Various reports and data sources documented a traffic decline of 40 to 50 percent compared to the previous year. These massive losses hit Business Insider particularly hard, as the company has historically been heavily dependent on organic search traffic. Around 70 percent of its traffic traditionally 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 of time. 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 traffic decline at Business Insider and other media outlets was primarily due to the introduction and proliferation of various AI-powered search technologies. Central to this development was Google's AI Overviews, a feature that rolled out to all US users in May 2024 and displays AI-generated summaries directly in search results. This technology allowed users to get their questions answered directly on the search results page without having to click on the original sources.

In addition to Google's AI Overviews, standalone AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude contributed to the traffic losses. ChatGPT became the fifth most visited website worldwide by 2025, surpassing established platforms such as Twitter and Wikipedia. These AI chatbots answered user questions directly, 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 technology companies' platforms rather than through the websites of the original content providers.

How did the company respond 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 shut down most of its commerce business, which was heavily dependent on search engine traffic, and instead focused on high-quality, authoritative reporting in the core areas of business, technology, and innovation.

At the same time, Business Insider increasingly leveraged AI technologies to improve efficiency. Over 70 percent of 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 results. This AI integration enabled similar or better performance 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 high reader engagement and invested in personalized content for loyal subscribers. This multifaceted strategy was intended to make Business Insider more resilient to external traffic fluctuations.

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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 made it clear 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 media and specialized publications and lifestyle magazines.

What was particularly notable was that the impact was felt across industries. Educational platforms like Chegg reported a 49 percent decline. Even established media groups like DMG Media, which owns MailOnline and Metro, recorded click-through rate declines of up to 89 percent for certain search queries. This universal impact demonstrated that the transformation in 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 change in the way 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-scale language models to synthesize information from multiple sources and create a coherent answer. Relevant facts, data, and insights are extracted from all available web content and processed into a comprehensible summary. These AI-generated answers appear in approximately 20 percent of all US desktop search queries, and this share appears to have stabilized at this level after initial growth.

The system means that users can often satisfy their information needs directly on Google's website 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 reinforced 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 change is evident in the drastic reduction in 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" is significantly exacerbating 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 search engine providers' platforms, 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 within a few months. This development is forcing media companies to fundamentally reorient their strategies as their traditional revenue streams erode. Many publishers are now forced 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 will be handled entirely within search engine ecosystems, without involving the original content creator.

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. Within a very short time, ChatGPT became the fifth most visited website worldwide, surpassing established platforms like Wikipedia and Twitter, while at the same time, referral traffic from these AI platforms to external websites remained minimal.

Particularly concerning for publishers is the low conversion rate of AI searches to website visits. Data shows that only about 0.1 percent of searches on AI platforms result in clicks to external publisher websites. This highlights that AI tools are not just providing an alternative source of information, but are actually diverting the flow of information away from the original sources. Forecasts indicate that this trend will continue to intensify, with estimates 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 change, especially if Google AI Mode becomes the default search experience. This could lead to a complete paradigm shift in which traditional search results lists are 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 "potentially to near 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 just 5.5 million, was far from sufficient to offset 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 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 go 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 at the heart of many reorientations. 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 seeking to position their human expertise as a differentiator. These multifaceted approaches aim to make publishers more resilient to external algorithm changes and 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 just a reaction to acute traffic losses, but highlighted the fundamental challenges facing the entire industry. The changes in user behavior caused 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 extent of the transformation surprised even industry experts. What could have happened gradually over years unfolded within a few months, with dramatic consequences for companies and employees. The trend toward zero-click searches and the increasing concentration of information power in a few large technology companies pose challenges not only for economic reasons but also for democratic theory.

Nevertheless, publishers' reactions also point to ways 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 lesson—an example of how quickly established structures can change in the digital era and how companies are forced to radically reinvent themselves to survive.

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