On July 22, 2026, as AI-powered search diverts traffic from online media, media companies are reevaluating their partnerships with Google. Reddit's $60 million annual content training licensing agreement with Google, signed in 2024, is nearing expiration, and Reddit is assessing whether to renew it, as AI-generated answers reduce the number of times users click through to external websites. Traditional media outlets such as Reuters and USA Today are considering blocking Google's content crawlers. Politico staff previously contemplated implementing a registration wall, while The Economist is discussing the possibility of opting out of AI search. Time, meanwhile, is experimenting with hiding ads in its content that are only visible to AI crawlers. According to Cloudflare data, internet bot request traffic has surpassed human traffic, accounting for 57.5%. Publishers are experiencing traffic declines, with USA Today's organic search traffic falling nearly in half from 2025 to 2026, and Politico and CNN seeing declines of 23% and 25%, respectively. Google claims its AI search feature drives billions of clicks to websites weekly, helping to expand audiences, but publishers are weighing the pros and cons and considering more aggressive countermeasures.