The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the digital landscape, threatening the very foundation of the internet as we know it.
Chatbots and AI-driven search tools like ChatGPT are undermining the traditional economic model, where free content fueled traffic and ad revenue. Recent trends show a staggering decline in web traffic, with overall visits dropping by around 15% in the past year. The impact is particularly severe in specific sectors, with healthcare sites experiencing a 30-31% plunge, signaling a potential global collapse across industries.
The shift is clear: users are increasingly turning to AI for quick answers rather than trawling websites. This has hit platforms like WebMD and TripAdvisor hard, as zero-click searches — where users get responses without leaving search pages — now account for a significant portion of queries. The old bargain of content creators providing material in exchange for traffic is crumbling, leaving publishers scrambling. Some argue this marks the end of the open web, with AI-generated summaries siphoning off the clicks that once sustained it.
Health-related searches, once a cornerstone of online activity, are suffering the most. The decline suggests a migration to AI chatbots, dubbed the “death of Dr. Google,” as people seek instant medical insights without visiting dedicated sites. This trend extends beyond healthcare, affecting education, science, and reference content, where traffic is plummeting due to AI’s ability to deliver concise, synthesized information.
To survive, the internet needs a new business model. The current ad-driven ecosystem is faltering as bots, not humans, dominate traffic. One innovative approach gaining traction is paying users to visit websites, exemplified by platforms like Quasa Rewards.
Through initiatives such as the Quasa Connect app, companies can compensate users with cryptocurrency (like Quasa’s QUA token) for clicking on and engaging with their sites.
This model incentivizes human traffic, countering the AI-driven decline by rewarding individuals for exploring content directly, potentially revitalizing small businesses and content creators. While still in early stages, this could offer a lifeline to brands seeking exposure in an AI-dominated landscape.
Other proposals include licensing deals where AI companies compensate content creators for data use, though these are currently limited to large publishers. Subscription models, newsletters, or video platforms like YouTube are also suggested, resisting easy summarization. However, challenges remain—legal battles over copyright could drag on, and social media’s algorithm-driven nature offers no certainty.
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Critics question the narrative of a total collapse, pointing to the web’s resilience against past disruptions like social media and apps. Some claim AI is expanding the internet with new content creation, though concerns linger about the quality of this “slop” flooding the web.
Without a robust new model — whether through user incentives like Quasa Rewards, revenue sharing, or human-content curation — the internet risks becoming a hollow shell dominated by synthetic data, stripped of human-driven innovation. The stakes are high, and time is running out.
