Jul 06, 2026 17:10:00

Of the 100 blogs that were once successful, about half have lost more than 85% of their search traffic due to the introduction of Google's AI and other factors.

Google has rolled out a feature called '

AI Summary ' that uses AI to make search results easier to understand, allowing users to find what they want without even opening a website. However, it has been pointed out that this has led to a significantdecrease in traffic from Google Search to websites. In this context, Daniel Stanika , founder of the information analytics company Monetize Better, reported research showing that 'about half of the 100 blogs that were once successful have lost more than 85% of their search traffic due to the introduction of Google's AI.'

The Great Blogging Collapse: What Happened to 100 Successful Blogs? [Study] | DanielStanica.com — Daniel Stanica — Advise, Broker, and Invest in Digital Assets
https://danielstanica.com/posts/Great-Blogging-Collapse

With the spread of the internet and the establishment of methods for generating revenue from online advertising, 'running a blog and earning advertising revenue' remained one of the most effective ways to make money online for over a decade. Many bloggers encouraged their users to monetize their blogs and even publicly shared their earnings as proof of their success.

In 2022, Stanika began tracking 100 blogs that publicly claimed to be earning more than $100,000 (approximately 16 million yen) per year. Four years later, in 2026, he reported the harsh reality that the vast majority of these blogs had lost 85% of their search traffic.

Stanika commented on the model of earning money through blog advertising revenue, saying, 'Looking back, this model was a single big gamble on the premise that 'Google would act as an intermediary, providing publishers with unlimited free clicks in exchange for content.' However, since 2023, that premise has been broken.'

According to estimates by the web marketing tool Semrush, the vast majority of the 100 blogs tracked by Stanika between April 2022 and April 2026 recorded a significant drop in search traffic. The median for the 100 blogs was an '85% decrease,' meaning that about half experienced an even worse decline in search traffic.

The graph below shows search traffic in April 2026 compared to April 2022, categorized as 'Wiped out (down 80% or more)', 'Gutted (down 50-80%)', 'Declined (down 10-50%)', 'Held roughly flat (down less than 10%)', and 'Grew (increased search traffic)'. 49 blogs experienced a decrease of 80% or more, while only 21 saw an increase in search traffic.

Stanica pointed out that two-thirds of sites lost more than half of their search traffic, and the median site lost as much as 85% of its traffic. He also explained that 20 blogs lost more than 99% of their traffic, and 12 blogs had zero organic search traffic.

Looking at the search traffic for all 100 blogs combined, the total monthly traffic decreased from approximately 17.8 million to approximately 12 million. At first glance, this might seem manageable, but it appears that two of the largest recipe sites,

Kitchen Sanctuary , Pinch of Yum , and Jessica Gavin , have experienced phenomenal growth, boosting the numbers. For the remaining 97 blogs, the total monthly traffic decreased from approximately 11 million to approximately 4 million during the same period.

This sudden shift in traffic is influenced not only by the AI's overview but also by repeated updates to search result rankings, which have caused low-quality content to disappear from search results. Many of the affected blogs were getting traffic from search terms such as 'how to do...' or 'what is...', but these contained very little content that demonstrated 'real-world experience,' which Google values. Furthermore, this type of content is easy for AI to summarize, and it is thought that users were satisfied with just seeing the AI's overview.

Stanika categorized 100 blogs by genre and graphed the changes in search traffic using the median. This graph shows that 'Parenting' and 'DIY & Crafts' are increasing, while all other genres are decreasing.

Staniska cites 'experiential content' as a common characteristic of blogs that maintained or increased their search traffic. Recipe sites that include helpful photos of cooking processes and detailed tips for users who actually cook, blogs that explain complex knitting steps in detail, and travel blogs that compile travel experiences and personal stories about specific regions have been reported to have survived the harsh changing environment.

Stanika argues, 'What actually survives is content that showcases direct experiences—content that cannot be generated by machines or summarized from other sources—that is delivered to a dedicated audience and, ideally, is linked to the actual products and brand names that people are searching for.' He recommends that new bloggers provide content based on their own experiences, which would be less meaningful if summarized by AI.