A new report shows that traffic to publishers from Google Discovery is increasing but decreasing from Google Web Search.
Newsdash is back in the news with its latest Google report, which analyzes over 8 billion clicks from numerous news publishers (to see where their traffic comes from) by comparing 2023 and 2024 Google Search Console data.
The Newsdash report
Newsdash has been busy; only last week, they released a report about AI Overviews appearing in only 3.9% of searches. Their latest report focused on traffic rates to publishers from Google Discover, Google Web Search, and other search types.
Newsdash founder John Shehata posted the report on X, saying the results are eye-opening:
John shared some of the report’s key findings:
- Google Discover: The percentage of Google Discover traffic increased by 14%, from 41.6% to 55.6% of total publishers’ Google traffic.
- Google Web Search: Web search traffic fell 10.5% and now accounts for 36% of publishers’ total Google traffic.
- Other search types: All other search types saw a decrease in their percentage of traffic. Google News, for example, fell from 7.3% to 6.0%.
John also posted a chart showing the Google Search 10% decline and the Discover 14% increase in traffic to tracked publishers:
John pointed out:
- “Important note: These percentages represent the share of traffic from each search type, not absolute traffic numbers. A larger share doesn’t necessarily mean more traffic overall – it indicates a shift in the relative importance of each channel.”
The Discovery content problem
The increase in Google Discover traffic could cause problems for publishers with Google’s recent confirmation that they can’t block content from appearing on Google Discover.
An SEO professional recently raised concerns about needing the ability to block content that is great for SEO but might infringe upon Google’s Discover guidelines from appearing.
John Mueller and Google’s Search Liaison gave a joint reply:
- “We’re pretty sure there’s not an option to just block content from Discover. That would be pretty useful, so we’ll pass it on.”
Looking forward
For many publishers, the data says Discover is now their primary traffic source. If those percentages keep rising, publishers will have to ensure they optimize their strategies for Discover.
With that said, Barry Schwartz from Search Engine Roundtable, who also wrote about the report, had this to say about Discover traffic:
“Can you rely on Google Discover traffic from Google? I doubt it, so good luck.”
