Google Search is ushering in an unprecedented turning point: core team employees are offered to “voluntarily leave” to support huge investment in AI. The end of the search era and the reshaping of the information ecology by AI have become irreversible.
Is the search really going to end?
Google search traffic ends faster than expected! It’s unexpected!
Even, Google itself is planning to “buy out” related business employees!
Employees of Google’s core team, marketing team, research team, knowledge and information (K&I) team, and communications team have all received buyout seniority offers.
The buyout plan, Google calls it a “voluntary separation program.”
In contrast, the program is not currently available to employees of DeepMind, Google Cloud, YouTube, or Google’s core ad sales department.
In addition to the AI+ money-making business, Google is already revolutionizing its own life!
Google is increasing spending to compete with ChatGPT and other AI rivals
“Search traffic is about to return to zero”It has also become a prerequisite for online media giants to formulate strategies.
Search engines and their industrial chains, which have been developing for more than 30 years, seem to have come to an end in the face of the impact of AI.
Since the mid-2000s, online media has relied on Google Search to optimize content to attract traffic, creating a “blue link economy.”
However, Google’s recent introductions of AI Overviews and AI Mode are bypassing backlinks by directly providing integrated answers, significantly weakening content publishers’ traffic streams.
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Just this year, under the impact of AI, the press and publishing industry “returned to zero”:
- Business Insider’s website traffic has plummeted by 55% in three years, and it has just laid off 21% of its employees;
- The CEO of the Washington Post urgently spoke out: The trend of searching for no click-to-answer jump is a “serious threat” to journalism;
- The CEO of Atlantic Monthly bluntly said: “Let’s assume that traffic from Google will drop to close to zero.”
- Similarweb data shows that the Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and many other media outlets have plummeted in organic search traffic – the entire industry has fallen into a “black hole moment” brought about by AI.
Google executives bluntly stated in an internal memo that in the face of the wave of AI reshaping products and collaboration, “we need everyone to devote themselves with unprecedented enthusiasm.”
Obviously, this AI technology change not only destroyed the old order externally, but also tore the old organization internally.
Google “buyouts” employees
Google proposed a voluntary separation compensation package to U.S. employees across multiple departments on Tuesday.
This is one of many cost-cutting measures taken by the company, and the purpose of the cost cuts is to fund billions of dollars in AI spending.
The program was provided to the search and advertising departments, as well as employees in research, engineering and other areas of the company.
Google has been cutting employees for years, while the company has invested tens of billions of dollars in developing cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) models and systems.
This comes at a time when Google intensifies its competition with ChatGPT and other AI rivals, which pose a threat to Google’s dominance in the search field.
The company expects capital expenditures of approximately $75 billion this year, compared to $52.5 billion in 2024.
Google completed the largest round of layoffs in the company’s history in 2023, when it cut about 12,000 employees, or 6% of its workforce.
Since then, the company has made layoffs in smaller batches.
Last year, Anat Ashkenazi, chief financial officer of Google’s parent company Alphabet, said the company was “trying to balance investments in AI and other growth areas with the cost discipline needed to fund these activities.”
To stay ahead in the AI race, Google has been improving the performance of its own AI models and chatbot Gemini, and adding AI features to many of its products.
The following is a memo sent to all employees by Jen Fitzpatrick, senior vice president of core systems at Google.
Hello everyone!
As I mentioned last month on The Source, the core team is currently in an exciting and significant phase, especially in the context of AI reshaping everything – whether it’s our products, tools, ways of working, how we collaborate, or how we innovate.
To address this transformative moment, we need each and every one of us to be fully committed to our core mission with unprecedented enthusiasm and energy, and to work together to accomplish our ambitious tasks in a fast-connected and collaborative manner.
To support these goals, today we are launching two new programs for core employees in the U.S.: First, we are launching a Voluntary Leaving Program (VEP) for core employees in the U.S. within the organizational structure I am responsible for.
We have received positive feedback after implementing similar programs across other teams in the company, so we want to provide the same option for our core employees who are eligible, working in the U.S. – we will provide severance compensation if they wish to leave the company voluntarily.
This program is for employees who no longer feel excited or identified with their core mission and goals, or who feel overwhelmed in their current role.
Second, while we now have a 3/2 hybrid work policy of working in the office three days a week and two days remotely, making work more flexible than ever, face-to-face communication still cannot be completely replaced when it comes to connecting, collaborating on innovation, and accelerating progress.
The core team believes that bringing more employees back to the office, collaborating and innovating, while building a sense of culture and community belonging, is an important part of our success.
As a result, we’re updating our core U.S. location policy to require all “locally remote” employees — those who live within 50 miles of an approved return-to-work location but are still working remotely — to return to the office in a 3/2 hybrid model.
We want to ensure that every member of our core is truly committed to this cause and actively contributes. These new initiatives will help us focus more on our mission and collaborate faster and more efficiently.
To be clear, these measures are not aimed at layoffs, but as an opportunity to provide internal mobility and new growth opportunities for core employees.
Soon, we will provide a detailed explanation of the voluntary separation plan for eligible core U.S. employees and information about the relocation of work for eligible remote employees.
We have a huge opportunity ahead of us – to achieve Google’s mission to make the experience better for all at scale and to achieve breakthroughs at this critical time of innovation.
Let’s continue to focus on our goals, work hard, and work together to drive this unstoppable momentum.
Online news media traffic has been hit hard
The end of AI for online news publishers is here.
Chatbots are replacing Google search, eliminating the need to click on blue links, causing referral traffic to news sites to plummet.
The traffic that publishers have relied on for years is declining dramatically.
According to digital market data firm Similarweb, organic search traffic to HuffPost’s desktop and mobile sites has fallen by more than half over the past three years, and the Washington Post’s traffic decline is close to that level.
Last month, Business Insider laid off about 21% of its workforce, a move that CEO Barbara Peng said was intended to help the publication “cope with an uncontrollable and extreme drop in traffic.”
According to Similarweb, its website’s organic search traffic dropped by 55% between April 2022 and April 2025.
Earlier this year, The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson said at a company all-hands meeting that publishers should assume that traffic from Google will drop to near zero and that the company needs to adjust its business model.
The total amount of organic searches based on desktop and mobile web pages
Google’s “AI Overviews” feature, which summarized content at the top of search results pages last year, hit traffic to features such as travel and vacation guides, health tips, and product review websites.
The “AI Mode” launched in the United States last month is designed to compete directly with opponents such as ChatGPT and is expected to have a more serious impact.
“AI Mode” responds to user queries in a chatbot-style manner, providing far fewer links.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Thompson said:“Google is moving from a search engine to an answer engine. We have to develop a new strategy.”
According to William Lewis, publisher and CEO of The Washington Post, the rapid development of no-click answers in search is a serious threat to journalism that should not be underestimated.
Lewis previously served as CEO of Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal.
He said the Washington Post is moving quickly to reach previously overlooked audiences, open up new revenue streams, and prepare for the “post-search era.”
According to Similarweb, the share of traffic from organic search in the New York Times fell from nearly 44% three years ago to 36.5% in April 2025.
The Wall Street Journal’s organic search traffic increased in April compared to three years ago, but its share of overall traffic fell from 29% to 24%.
Sherry Weiss, chief marketing officer of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, said that as the search ecosystem changes, the company is focusing on building trust with readers and attracting steady traffic.
She said:“As the referral ecosystem continues to evolve, we are focused on ensuring that customers have direct access to us when they need it.”
Google executives said the company is still committed to driving traffic to the web, saying that users who click on links after viewing the “AI Overview” tend to spend more time on these sites.
The search giant also said it prioritizes links to news sites and does not necessarily display an AI overview when users search for popular news.
However, for queries about older articles or lifestyle content, an overview may be generated.
Since the dawn of the internet, publishers have been hit by emerging technologies.
Digital journalism has destroyed once lucrative print publications that once relied on classifieds, advertising, and subscription revenue to survive.
Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have brought online traffic to news publishers, but have ultimately stopped prioritizing news content recommendations.
Despite some fluctuations brought about by the constant adjustments to Google’s powerful algorithm, search has been a steady source of traffic for over a decade.
Generative AI is revolutionizing the way the internet is used today.
Neil Vogel, CEO of Dotdash Meredith, said: “AI is not a game-changer right now, but it will be in the long run. It’s the last straw.”
Dotdash Meredith’s brands include People and Southern Living.
The development of digital technology, which has hit print publications hard, is now impacting website traffic to news organizations
When Dotdash merged with Meredith in 2021, Google search accounted for about 60% of the company’s traffic.
Today, it’s about a third, and overall traffic is growing, thanks to several initiatives including newsletters and MyRecipes recipe storage.
Many online news outlets are already facing serious trends, such as declining public trust and fierce competition.
As search traffic decreases, they focus more on connecting directly with readers through businesses like hosting live meetings.
The Atlantic is building relationships with readers by improving its app, increasing the number of print magazine issues and investing more in campaigns, and Thompson said subscription and ad revenue is on the rise, Thompson said in a recent interview.
Leaders at Politico and Business Insider (both Axel Springer-owned outlets) are also emphasizing audience engagement and connection with readers.
While dealing with how AI is changing search, publishers are also looking to protect their copyrighted material.
The new generation of chatbots relies on large models trained on data collected from open networks, including news articles.
Some media companies have initiated legal proceedings against specific AI startups and signed licensing agreements with others.
For example, the New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement and recently announced an AI licensing agreement with Amazon.
News Corp, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal, has reached a content deal with OpenAI and filed a lawsuit against Perplexity.
At the same time, the generative AI race is becoming a major threat to Google’s core search business.
Although Google said its total searches on Apple devices have increased, an Apple executive said in federal court last month that Google’s search volume on the iPhone browser Safari fell for the first time in nearly two decades.
Resources:
https://qz.com/goog-googl-ai-mode-threat-to-publishers-traffic-1851784169
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/google-ai-news-publishers-7e687141
https://www.businessinsider.com/google-return-office-buyouts-employees-leaked-memo-2025-6
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/10/google-buyouts-search-ads-unit.html
