The Artificial Human Is AI killing Search?
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Feb 18, 2026 
Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia co-founder who champions community-built reference and attribution. Sajeeda Merali, CEO of the Professional Publishers Association defending journalism revenue and licensing. They debate AI summaries cutting clicks, the strain on publisher business models, attribution and licensing demands, and risks to the web’s information ecosystem.
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Publishers' SEO Investment Undermined
- Sajeeda Merali explains publishers invested heavily in SEO to earn traffic and revenue from clicks.
- She reports many publishers see reduced visits because AI outputs use their content without sending users to their sites.
From Aggregator To Gatekeeper
- The historical web exchange sent users from search to publishers, enabling monetization and data capture.
- AI summaries turn platforms into gatekeepers that keep users inside walled gardens and capture value.
Traffic Loss Means Lost Data And Revenue
- AI summaries drastically reduce click-through rates, harming publishers' revenue and insights from user data.
- Reduced traffic also removes publishers' ability to learn audience preferences and fund journalism.