Google Adds AI Summaries To Discover Feed

Google introduced AI-generated news summaries through its Discover feed on iOS and Android devices in the United States, which has led publishers to worry about their website traffic decline.

Instead of seeing a single headline and publisher logo, users now see news source logos with AI-generated summaries that reference the original sources, as first reported by TechCrunch. The app clearly warns that these summaries are created by AI, “which can make mistakes.”

A Google spokesperson confirmed this is not a test but an official U.S. launch which focuses on trending lifestyle topics, like sports and entertainment. Google says that the feature enables users to determine which pages they want to visit, as reported by TechCrunch. TechCrunch notes that some stories also include bullet-point summaries or are grouped with similar news, offering quick context without leaving the app.

Google Discover + Gemini AI

In Google Discover, we find “Trending” cards with an AI Overview, several sources, a news summary, and a main article.

Clicking on the site icons takes us to a new “More” page with a Discover feed for these sites, on which the AI summary is based.… pic.twitter.com/F1aKELghJu

— Damien (andell) (@AndellDam) June 16, 2025

The new feature  builds on previous AI tools like AI Overviews and AI Mode, which provide direct article summaries within the search results, thus eliminating the need for users to click on the news websites. Google’s Discover feed had remained a source of clicks for publishers, but this rollout could change that.

Data shows this shift is already impacting publishers heavily. According to market intelligence firm Similarweb and a recent report by The Economist, worldwide search traffic to news sites dropped 15% year-over-year as of June 2025.

The number of news searches that don’t lead to any clicks on websites rose from 56% in May 2024 to nearly 69% in May 2025. Organic visits fell from 2.3 billion at their peak to under 1.7 billion.

Publishers are alarmed. Danielle Coffey, president of the News/Media Alliance, said, “Links were the last redeeming quality of search that gave publishers traffic and revenue. Now Google just takes content by force and uses it with no return, the definition of theft.” William Lewis, CEO of The Washington Post, called this “a serious threat to journalism that should not be underestimated.”

As Google shifts from being a search engine to an “answer engine,” many publishers are turning to direct engagement strategies or alternative revenue models. But as The Atlantic CEO warned, “Google traffic will eventually reach zero levels […] We have to develop new strategies.”