Ziff Davis CEO Vivek Shah told analysts on November 6 that organic Google referrals to CNET, IGN, PCMag and its other sites fell about 37% in the third quarter, after a drop of about 23% a year earlier. He said Search Console data showed the company's content in AI Overviews and AI Mode about 2.7 billion times, close to 10x the clicks it received from Google Search. "We're not planning on a search recovery," Shah said. PPC Land, which reported the call, cautioned that impressions and clicks are not a clean comparison and noted the company did not disclose its click total. Q3 revenue fell 5.6% to $289.3 million, and the Technology and Shopping segment took a $29.6 million goodwill impairment. Ziff Davis is shifting toward social commerce, video, apps and email, including a relaunched RetailMeNot app.
Other companies reported similar pressure, according to PPC Land. USA TODAY Co. cut $100 million in annual costs after indirect digital advertising, which depends on search visitors, fell 32%. Teads CEO David Kostman said AI search summaries and algorithm changes cut publisher page views by 20% to 60%, and Teads revenue fell 26%. Yelp reported its seventh straight quarterly decline in ad clicks.
Cloudflare, which sits between AI agents and websites, reported revenue up 39% to $782.5 million and first revenue, amount undisclosed, from products that meter or charge for agent traffic. Separately, Marketplace Pulse's Juozas Kaziukenas spotted a ChatGPT dashboard showing verified businesses their daily impressions and clicks. OpenAI has not announced it.