Google Search Referrals to Publishers Drop 40.2% as Overall Pageviews Hold Steady

Google Search traffic to publishers fell 40.2% between July 2025 and July 2026, according to reporting by A Media Operator. Over the same period, traffic from Google Discover declined 34.3%. Despite those steep drops in referrals from Google, publishers' overall pageviews barely changed. The article, written by Bron, a reporter for A Media Operator based in London, is available free with a registered account and is accompanied by a twice-weekly newsletter covering the media and events industry. A Media Operator also offers an AMO Pro membership that unlocks all of its reporting, access to an exclusive AMO Slack community, and discounted tickets to AMO events. Before joining A Media Operator, Bron worked as a beat reporter for the UK journalism trade journal Press Gazette and earlier at the US anti-misinformation startup NewsGuard. The piece poses the question of why publishers' pageviews have not collapsed in line with the sharp decline in Google referrals.