When The Open Web Dies...

If Google chokes off publishers — large and small — the open web dies. It’s as simple as that. Google has too much power, too much control over the livelihoods of millions.

And let’s be clear: Google is a malevolent entity. It exists to serve itself — and its shareholders.

Publishers — no, the entire publishing industry — have known for years that they were in a Faustian pact with Google.

Most just didn’t realize that one day, Google would tear up the deal.

That day has now come. The ball is rolling. And Pandora isn’t going back in her box.

The DOJ officially called Google what it is: a monopoly.

But what that definition doesn’t capture is what happens when a monopoly goes rogue — when it decides it no longer has to pretend to play fair.

Google has gone rogue.

AI Overviews are here. The Zero Click Era has begun.

And no one seems to grasp the gravity of what’s happening.

So let me lay it out:

• Most independent publishers will die. They won’t be able to pay staff or keep the lights on.

• Big players like Future, Vox, and Bauer might survive — they’ve already inked deals with OpenAI and, most likely, Google.

• Paywalls will rise. More sites will require logins or emails just to read content.

• You’ll get your information from an AI.

• The AI will get things wrong.

• You’ll have to verify everything.

• But there’ll be fewer and fewer good sites left to verify against.

Most of the web will be sanitized, centralized, and owned by the same handful of companies.

And eventually, when there’s nothing left to scrape, Google’s AI will starve.

No more fresh content. No new ideas.

And that’s when the open web finally dies.