Google\u2019s AI Overviews are reducing traffic to review content and buyers\u2019 guides by up to 50%, according to an affiliate marketing specialist.<\/p>\n Paul Cunliffe, who works with publishers on their affiliate channels, described the arrival of AI Overviews<\/a> as a \u201creal challenge at the moment in the affiliate space\u201d.<\/p>\n Publishers can earn affiliate revenue by linking to products and services, taking a commission when readers make a purchase by clicking through a link.<\/p>\n Cunliffe was speaking at Press Gazette\u2019s Future of Media Trends event in London on Thursday<\/a> on a panel about licensing, affiliates and retail revenue streams.<\/p>\n Cunliffe, former managing director at Shortlist and director of affiliates at Time Inc UK, said Google\u2019s AI Overviews, which began to summarise content from across the internet at the top of search results last year, have \u201creduced traffic considerably to buyer\u2019s guides and review content\u201d.<\/p>\n He said this is having an effect of \u201cas much as maybe 50% in some cases\u201d.<\/p>\n [Read more: AI Overviews cutting publisher clickthrough rates by 50%, new report finds<\/a>]<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSo this is a range of content that was highly optimised for search over years and years, suddenly hit by a huge drop in traffic, a corresponding drop in affiliate revenue from 20-40% in some cases, which is really a massive hit\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWith that what you get is a drop in commission rates as well, because you\u2019re not referring as much traffic to those retailers, not as many purchases are being made.\u201d<\/p>\n Cunliffe said this is why he felt the \u201cfightback\u201d against Google\u2019s AI products is important, citing a legal challenge submitted to the UK\u2019s Competition and Markets Authority by groups including the Independent Publishers Alliance in July.<\/a><\/p>\n The CMA has just designated Google as a tech platform with \u201cstrategic market status\u201d in relation to its search products<\/a>, including AI Overviews and separate generative search feature AI Mode, which will allow the regulator to implement new rules and regulations.<\/p>\n [Read more: How to grow publishing revenue in a world of declining traffic<\/a>]<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of your content, the thing I\u2019d be looking to do is optimise the heck out of what you have massively so make it work a lot harder.\u201d<\/p>\n Cunliffe said across the industry average clickthrough rates are about 4% but that at New York Times testing and reviews brand Wirecutter that is more like 40% \u201cso there\u2019s still a lot of ground to be made up\u201d.<\/p>\n He said this can be done by \u201cgoing deeper rather than broader into content \u2013 so go deeper into categories, rather than covering more, becoming more niche.<\/p>\n Cunliffe advised publishers to look at \u201cthe hierarchy of information on your pages as well. We\u2019re often still stuck in kind of the magazine way of doing things with reviews.\u201d<\/p>\n Personalisation could be the \u201cnext step on the rung of the ladder\u201d in the affiliate space, Cunliffe said.<\/p>\n He said two people would \u201cbe recommended the same pair of headphones, but we have different needs, and personalisation is something that isn\u2019t in this space.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one\u2019s yet really worked out how we can start to reflect that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Cunliffe also explained why Wirecutter is doing so well, citing its \u201csingular focus in terms of what it\u2019s doing\u201d including the fact it is \u201cincredibly ad-lite\u201d.<\/p>\n He said its clickthrough rate is at 40% \u201cbecause the trust signals are extremely high, the content is extremely thorough.<\/p>\n \u201cThe average length of an article Wirecutter is around 4,500 words. So, when they\u2019re testing something, they\u2019re really testing it, and you\u2019ll see loads of trust signals right from the top of the article going all the way down.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no reason why, if you\u2019re in the US and you are looking to buy headphones, you wouldn\u2019t go to Wirecutter. They are the best place to go to get that information. There isn\u2019t really a UK alternative to Wirecutter.\u201d<\/p>\n He said UK websites like Techradar and Trusted Reviews feature \u201cplenty of ads\u201d meaning they are split between \u201clots of different ways of making revenue\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWirecutter is about one way of making revenue and that\u2019s why it works.\u201d<\/p>\n Michelle Myers, global chief revenue officer at global content licencing agency Wrights Media<\/a>, agreed that Wirecutter is \u201ckilling it from an affiliate perspective\u201d.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cI think the reason why, one of the reasons why, is they have a very strong methodology. And the buyers who are buying the licensing, they want a strong methodology. It\u2019s very important to them, because there\u2019s so many players in the category.\u201d<\/p>\n Myers noted that overall US publishers are \u201cfurther along\u201d in its investment in affiliate revenue and e-commerce than in the UK.<\/p>\n She said these streams of income \u201care great source of revenue\u201d for US publishers, \u201cwhich I don\u2019t see happening\u201d in the UK.<\/p>\n Myers said: \u201cI can see it, because we have clients on both sides: the US is further along, I would say, with e-commerce and affiliate \u2013 the publishers have invested in internal teams and have grown those internal teams significantly. It is a great source of revenue for these publishers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe US culture has really moved from a shopping perspective when Covid hit<\/a> to looking for those editorial endorsements of products and selection for reviews.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it has really changed the landscape of shopping in the US, and those publishers are making a significant revenue from that.\u201d<\/p>\n She added a lot of publishers in the US have created their own commerce content brands, CNN Underscored<\/a> and Forbes Vetted<\/a>, \u201coff of what I call the mothership\u201d.<\/p>\n In the UK the likes of Indy Best, whose reviews led to one million purchases last year<\/a>, and The Guardian\u2019s The Filter, which launched a year ago<\/a>, were mentioned at the event.<\/p>\n \n ![\"L-R:](\"https:\/\/pressgazette.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/PANEL1-1038x778.jpg\")
Publishers told to \u2018optimise the heck out of what you have\u2019<\/h2>\n
Why New York Times Wirecutter is leading player in affiliate revenue<\/h2>\n
![\"Paul](\"https:\/\/pressgazette.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/PANEL4-800x600.jpg\")
US publishers \u2018further along\u2019 on affiliate revenue than UK<\/h2>\n
![\"Michelle](\"https:\/\/pressgazette.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/MichelleMyers-800x600.jpg\")