“Google Defends AI-Generated Search Summaries Amid Rolling Stone Publisher Lawsuit”
Penske Media Claims AI Overviews Reduce Traffic Google Argues Users Can Still Access Original Content
Washington, Jan 14: Google has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Penske Media Corp (PMC), the publisher of Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Variety, alleging that the tech giant’s AI-generated search summaries are diverting traffic from publishers’ websites.
PMC filed the suit last year, claiming that Google violated antitrust laws by forcing publishers to allow AI overviews of their content if they wish to remain indexed in Google Search. The publisher argued that it heavily depends on Google search referrals to drive traffic and revenue across its 25+ print and digital brands.
In its filing, Google and parent company Alphabet called the lawsuit “legally defective in every way,” arguing that users can still directly access publishers’ pages through search results. Google also stated that it has no obligation to index content on publishers’ preferred terms, and publishers can block indexing entirely if desired.
PMC suggested that in a competitive market, Google should compensate publishers for republishing content or using it to train AI systems. Google countered that the company is not required to maintain referral traffic guarantees or freeze search results to satisfy publishers’ preferences.
The case, Penske Media Corp et al v. Google and Alphabet, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 1:25-cv-03192-APM). Google also faces other antitrust lawsuits from the U.S. government and media publishers over its search and advertising practices.
