Where is all the organic traffic going?! A recent study by Kevin Indig and Similarweb suggests that Google’…
by Marcel Hollerbach · World of Commerce
Where is all the organic traffic going?! A recent study by Kevin Indig and Similarweb suggests that Google’s blended "Sponsored Results" are a larger driver of organic traffic declines than AI Overviews.
The key takeaways from the analysis of 1,700+ sites between August 2024 and August 2026:
Market Comparison: The study compared the US market (which has AI Overviews) against the French market (which does not).
Surprising Drop: Organic search traffic fell more sharply in France (-24%) than in the US (-13%), indicating that AI Overviews are not the sole or primary cause of the decline.
Real Culprit: As organic traffic dropped, paid traffic surged simultaneously (+21% in the US, +23% in France). Google's newer ad formats blend in more seamlessly with regular results, likely cannibalizing clicks that would have otherwise gone to organic links.
I did not expect this to be honest, but if this holds true then declining organic traffic has nothing to do with AI but is simply good old Google optimising for ads...