The future of blogging in the age of AI

Overview

The video argues that AI “overviews” (such as Google’s AI-generated summaries) are rapidly changing how people discover information online. It also claims this shift is already affecting bloggers’ traffic and visibility.

Key reported trends from the creator’s analytics

The presenter tracks four main changes since roughly February/March of the year, after previously seeing steady growth over the prior ~8 years:

1. Google traffic is down Users appear to get what they need directly from AI overviews and don’t click through to the blog.

2. Google search impressions are flat (level) The presenter interprets this as ongoing interest/demand for the topics, but reduced clicking and reduced scrolling—fewer people move past the AI overview and fewer people even go to later pages of results.

3. Affiliate commissions are roughly unchanged While overall traffic falls, the clicks and purchase intent from the remaining audience appear stable. This suggests the most loyal/high-intent visitors still value blog content.

4. Ad revenue (AdSense) is up despite lower traffic The creator reports revenue per thousand impressions (RPM) and overall page RPM rising substantially (about +35% page RPM and +40% impression RPM for Jan–Sep vs. the prior year). They speculate this could be because ad placement becomes more “competitive” with fewer publishers receiving visibility, leading to higher advertiser bids—though they note uncertainty.

The broader claim is that these effects seem less tied to the economy and more tied to shifts in search optimization and ranking behavior toward AI-generated summaries.

Analysis: why bloggers should care

The presenter says the “biggest change” is that blog content is increasingly crawled and summarized by AI. They also perceive that Google has been adjusting how it credits/attributes sources—generally seen as unfavorable to bloggers.

Predictions / proposed adaptations (3 main ideas)

1. Authenticity will matter more than ever AI can imitate content, but not lived experience. The presenter argues readers will increasingly seek real, reputable sources, especially as deepfakes and synthetic media make anonymous outputs harder to trust. Blogs are positioned as a “portfolio” of real knowledge and experience.

2. AI “recycling” of content may degrade quality—creating pressure for better incentives The presenter criticizes using AI tools to write blog posts, suggesting it contributes to content being summarized again and again (“recycled slop”) and may become outdated. They predict AI companies will eventually need incentives to secure high-quality, original, regularly updated publisher content to maintain product quality.

3. Brands still need placement, but the strategy shifts As AI overviews become a primary visibility surface, brands and agencies must be more deliberate about being included in AI summaries. This may make relying solely on affiliate links less attractive; instead, the presenter suggests brands may move toward sponsorships to secure more prominent inclusion. They believe sponsorship rates could rise as bloggers’ content becomes more valuable for achieving AI-overview visibility.

Overall takeaway

The outlook is framed as not entirely pessimistic. While traffic and click-through decline, the presenter suggests bloggers and businesses can “reassess and recalibrate” by:

• leaning into authenticity,
• reducing AI-generated/duplicative content, and
• aligning brand promotion with how AI overviews source and present recommendations.

Presenters / contributors

• The video presenter (unnamed in the subtitles) — blogger, freelance content creator, and coach/consultant discussing analytics and trends.