In a significant legal move, Penske Media, the parent company of prominent publications such as Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Variety, has filed a lawsuit against Google in federal court in Washington, D.C. The lawsuit, lodged on Friday, alleges that Google’s AI-generated summaries utilize its journalism without permission, resulting in diminished traffic to its websites.
This case marks a notable first, as it is the inaugural instance of a major U.S. publisher challenging Google in court over the controversial AI summaries that are increasingly featured prominently in Google search results. For several months, various news organizations have voiced concerns that these AI-driven features, including what Google refers to as “AI Overviews,” are diverting traffic from their sites, ultimately undermining their advertising revenue and subscription income.
Penske Media, under the leadership of Jay Penske, which attracts approximately 120 million online visitors each month, asserts that Google only includes publishers’ websites in its search results if it can simultaneously incorporate their articles into its AI summaries. The legal documents claim that without this leverage, Google would need to compensate publishers for the rights to republish their content or utilize it for training its AI systems. The lawsuit underscores Google’s significant market dominance, citing a federal court’s previous determination that Google possesses nearly a 90% share of the U.S. search market.
Penske emphasized the importance of defending the integrity of digital media, stating, “We have a responsibility to proactively fight for the future of digital media and preserve its integrity – all of which is threatened by Google’s current actions.” The lawsuit claims that roughly 20% of Google searches pointing to Penske’s websites currently feature AI Overviews, a figure they anticipate will increase. It further asserts that affiliate revenue has plummeted by over a third from its peak, partially attributable to declining search traffic.
This legal challenge echoes a similar lawsuit filed by online education company Chegg in February, which alleged that Google’s AI-generated overviews were undermining demand for original content and hampering the competitiveness of publishers.
In response to the lawsuit, a Google spokesperson defended the AI Overviews, arguing that they enhance the user experience and broaden access to a variety of websites. “With AI Overviews, people find Search more helpful and use it more, creating new opportunities for content to be discovered. We will defend against these meritless claims,” stated José Castaneda.
Adding to the tension between publishers and the tech giant, a recent court ruling granted Google an antitrust victory by determining that the company would not be required to divest its Chrome browser as part of efforts to increase competition in the search domain. This decision has left some publishers and industry organizations dissatisfied, including the News/Media Alliance, which highlighted concerns that the ruling deprived publishers of the ability to opt out of AI-generated summaries.
Danielle Coffey, CEO of the News/Media Alliance—a trade group that represents over 2,200 U.S.-based publishers—criticized Google’s market power. “When you have the massive scale and market power that Google has, you are not obligated to abide by the same norms. That is the problem,” she stated. This concern emphasizes the disparity between Google and other firms, such as OpenAI, which have initiated AI licensing agreements with media companies like News Corp and The Atlantic, while Google has been notably slower to engage in similar arrangements.
