People Inc. core sessions fall 26% in Q3, citing AI search and AI Overviews
Corrections
- 2026-11-07: The reusable social copy described Google as 21% of traffic. People Inc.’s Q2 presentation reports Google Search as 21% of Core Sessions, not all traffic. The social field now preserves that scope; the live social posts require a visible correction reply.
What this answers
- How much traffic has People Inc. lost to Google AI Overviews?
- People Inc. said its Core Sessions, visits to its 19 most important owned sites, fell 26% year over year to 1.61 billion in the third quarter of 2026, which it attributed primarily to AI-oriented search and content discovery experiences. CEO Neil Vogel told analysts the company has lost nearly 70% of its Google search traffic over the last few years.
- How often do AI Overviews appear on the searches People Inc. tracks?
- The company's earnings presentation put AI Overviews penetration at 82%; on the November 3 call, CFO Tim Quinn said AI Overviews are now found on over 90% of the Google searches it tracks.
People Inc., the owner of PEOPLE, Allrecipes and Investopedia, reported 1.61 billion Core Sessions in the third quarter of 2026, down 26% from 2.17 billion a year earlier, in results released November 2 (per PPC Land’s reading of the company’s metrics grid; the quarterly declines were 17% in Q1 and 22% in Q2). The company said the drop came “primarily” from “AI-oriented search and content discovery experiences”; its earnings presentation lists a 22% decline in Google Search and 82% AI Overviews penetration without defining either measure.
On the November 3 call, CFO Tim Quinn said AI Overviews now appear on over 90% of the Google searches the company tracks, and CEO Neil Vogel said it has lost nearly 70% of its Google search traffic over the last few years. Digital advertising fell 8% to $161.9 million, while digital revenue rose 2% to $288.5 million on a 49% jump in licensing and other revenue to $52.7 million, per PPC Land’s reading of the results. The company is cutting 195 jobs, 6% of its workforce.
Why it matters: A publisher with 40-plus brands now reports, in an earnings release, a session decline that accelerates each quarter alongside a licensing line that grows 49%, which is the clearest dated record yet of AI search shifting a publisher's income from ads to deals.
The record: GoogleGoogle AI Overviews
Glossary: AI Overviews
Via People Incorporated ↗ · Motley Fool (Q3 2026 earnings call transcript) ↗
Posted to the wire November 6, 2026. Updated November 7, 2026. Edited by Joe Balewski.