A new report from Growtika reveals a sharp decline in organic search traffic for major technology news outlets in the United States. Between February 2024 and January 2026, tech sites saw an average monthly traffic decrease of 58%.
Key Traffic Losses by Publication
The impact has been severe across the industry, with some major brands losing nearly all their organic reach:
- Digital Trends: -97%
- ZDNet: -90%
- The Verge: -85%
- HowToGeek: -85%
- TechRadar: -74%
- WIRED: -62%
- Tom’s Guide: -50%
- CNET: -47%
The Impact of Google AI Overviews
Data shows the most significant downturn began in the second half of 2025. This timeline aligns with the wide-scale expansion of Google’s AI Overviews.
As Google began displaying comprehensive answers directly on the search results page, users increasingly consumed content without clicking through to the source sites. This shift in search behavior has created a challenging landscape for publishers relying on traditional organic traffic.
