Independent Publishers Alliance is pushing back against Google’s AI Overviews, accusing the tech giant of misusing their content and threatening the sustainability of journalism.
Google’s AI Overviews, launched in over 100 countries, generate AI-written summaries that appear at the top of search results, above traditional website links. While Google claims these overviews help users discover more content, they have sparked backlash from independent publishers. Critics say the feature uses publisher content without proper consent, diverts traffic away from original sources, and threatens the viability of independent journalism.
Independent Publishers Alliance, a coalition of digital publishers, has filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission, alleging that Google is abusing its dominance in search by prioritizing its own AI-generated content. The complaint also highlights the lack of an opt-out option for publishers who don’t want their material used for AI training, unless they also accept being excluded from Google Search entirely.
Similar complaints have been filed in the UK and echo lawsuits in the U.S., pointing to a growing global concern over the impact of Google’s AI strategy on digital publishing. These summaries, built using publishers’ material, give users direct answers without needing to visit external sites — hurting publishers’ readership, advertising income, and overall visibility, Reuters news report said.
Publishers also argue that they are effectively forced to participate in Google’s ecosystem. To appear in search results, they must allow their content to be crawled and potentially used to train AI models, with no clear opt-out mechanism that doesn’t also result in being excluded from regular search listings.
While Google defends its strategy by saying AI Overviews help users ask more questions and discover content, critics say the traffic gains Google cites are selective and don’t reflect the steep losses some publishers are experiencing.
The Independent Publishers Alliance and Foxglove Legal argue this practice constitutes an abuse of dominance in the search market and have called for regulators to intervene urgently to prevent irreparable harm to the news ecosystem.
Is this a wrong strategy for Google?
From a business standpoint, integrating AI into search is a strategic move for Google as it seeks to stay ahead of rivals and reshape how people access information. However, alienating content creators — who are essential to the web’s information ecosystem — may backfire. If publishers begin blocking Google’s crawlers or pushing for stricter regulations, it could undermine the quality and diversity of the very content that fuels AI Overviews.
Google’s current approach risks creating an unsustainable imbalance, where original content is devalued while Google captures the user engagement — and now ad revenue — at the top of the results. Unless it finds a more equitable model that compensates or gives control back to publishers, Google may face mounting legal, reputational, and regulatory challenges across multiple jurisdictions.
Rajani Baburajan
