Arlington, VA – Today Tollbit, an analytics and licensing platform for publishers and AI companies, released its first AI User Agent Index, a quarterly report that tracks overall trends in the scraping habits of the AI industry. The report details that the click-through rates for AI chat bots are 95.7% lower than traditional Google search, with a referral rate of just 0.37%.
News/Media Alliance President and CEO Danielle Coffey issued the following statement in response:
“Tollbit’s data confirms what publishers have known for years – generative AI chat bots are not providing anywhere near the amount of traffic as traditional search. By illegally scraping our content, repackaging it, and giving it to consumers without adequately directing them to our sites, AI companies are using our own content to undermine our businesses. Without web traffic, news and media organizations lose subscription and advertising revenue, and cannot continue to fund the quality work that both AI companies and consumers rely on.
With AI click-through rates almost 96% lower than traditional search, which we believe is already at inadequate return rates, the shift to AI presents an existential threat to the news and media industry. Something has to change. But that doesn’t mean we want to stop the growth of AI. The news and media industry isn’t anti-AI – many of us use artificial intelligence in our businesses, to better serve our customers. We’re just asking for responsible AI. Artificial intelligence companies must compensate publishers for the content they use, for the long-term health of both of our industries.”
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The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,200 news, magazine and digital media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.
