Source: Search Engine Journal
Google is shifting Search from a referral engine to a destination platform, letting users follow creators directly within search results. Publishers lose the traffic gate they've depended on for two decades. The move formalizes a trend already underway—Reddit prominence, AI overviews—and reflects that Google no longer needs to send users elsewhere. It captures engagement in-house and monetizes creator followership instead. Publishers face a choice: build direct audiences or become invisible in the search product their traffic models relied on.