Cloudflare's CEO warns that AI and zero-click internet are undermining the web's business model

Cloudflare CEO warns AI and zero-click models undermine traditional web models, changing online content and search operations.

: Matthew Prince, the CEO of Cloudflare, raises significant concerns about the future of the web's business model due to the rise of AI and zero-click internet concepts, especially as search engines like Google allow users to obtain answers without leaving the search page. Prince emphasizes that searching has been the backbone of online activities over the last 15 years but is now disrupted by zero-click practices, including results where users do not end up visiting content creators’ websites. Over 75% of search queries on Google are resolved without users leaving the platform, negatively impacting the return content creators receive, exacerbated by AI models scraping data without compensation. Prince highlights that the current trend is unsustainable for those who produce content, citing that out of every six pages Google scrapes, only one visitor is generated, urging for an urgent reevaluation of the digital information value chain.

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince has raised alarms about how artificial intelligence (AI) and the rise of the "zero-click internet" are undermining the web's foundational business model. He noted that platforms like Google increasingly answer user queries directly, without referring traffic to original content sites. This shift significantly reduces the incentives and revenue for websites that rely on user visits for ad revenue or subscriptions.

Prince highlighted that in the past, Google would send one user to a website for every two pages it indexed. Today, that ratio has drastically worsened; now, it takes indexing six pages to generate one click-through. The reason? Around 75% of Google searches are now answered directly on Google's platform itself — a clear example of the zero-click trend. This means websites provide value but don’t get any return.

AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini are accelerating this problem. These systems often aggregate and summarize information from across the web without linking back to the original sources. As a result, users get what they need without ever visiting the publisher’s site. Prince warned that this behavior threatens the long-term sustainability of a free, open internet.

He also criticized big AI companies for crawling the internet extensively to train their models without compensating content creators. Prince argued this is “not OK,” and that AI’s hunger for training data could destroy the very ecosystem it relies on. Without proper attribution and traffic, content creators will have no reason to continue producing high-quality material.

To address the issue, Prince believes platforms and content creators need to collectively rethink how value is shared in the AI age. He hinted at possible technical measures to block zero-click behavior and called for more ethical practices among tech giants. As AI continues to reshape user behavior, the need to balance innovation with sustainability becomes urgent.

Sources: Wired, TechCrunch, The Verge, Ars Technica, Fortune

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