Half of 100 Once-Successful Blogs Lost Over 85% of Search Traffic, Study Finds
A four-year study by information analysis company Monetize Better tracked 100 blogs that publicly claimed over $100,000 in annual ad revenue. By April 2026, the median blog lost 85% of its search traffic, with 49 blogs down 80% or more and 20 losing 99% or more. The decline is attributed to Google's AI Overviews and search ranking updates that deprioritized content lacking firsthand experience.