Physix FrontierPhysix Frontier · News Briefing Card (Hacker News · Nov 9, 2026)
Site rejoins Google AI search after 28 days, traffic shift revealed
KEY FACTS
- In August 2026, Google globally rolled out an option letting publishers opt out of AI features in search.
- Within one hour of opting out, the site vanished completely from Google AI search.
- Before opting out, the site received 500 to 1,000 AI search impressions per day, about 10% of its total search impressions.
- It rejoined after 28 days, and AI search impressions recovered almost immediately.
- Estimated AI search click-through rate is about 0.9%, contributing about 21% of total search clicks.
KEY DATA
500-1,000Daily AI search impressions
About 10%AI search impressions as share of total search impressions
About 0.9%AI search click-through rate
About 21%AI search as share of total search clicks
PHYSIX OBSERVATION
This single-site experiment shows that AI search impressions, though a modest share, contribute about one-fifth of clicks, so opting out amounts to voluntarily giving up a sizable traffic channel. For content publishers, the opt-out button looks like copyright protection but may in fact weaken their own distribution; and Google's failure to break out AI click data makes performance evaluation less transparent.
Source: Hacker News report