What CEOs Are Saying: The End of the Search Referral
Three earnings calls from PubMatic, Ziff Davis, and Yelp
Quote of the Week
“The company has always been about patience and discipline, and I don’t see why we would abandon that mindset at this point.”
—Vivek Shah, CEO, Ziff Davis
“GEO has become the new SEO.”
—Vivek Shah
In a few short years, AI has revolutionized how we all use the Internet. Case in point: Google search now answers most questions on the page itself thanks to an AI summary. In many cases you don’t have to click a link at all.
The websites on the other end of those links have felt it. Data from Chartbeat published in March put the two-year decline in search referrals at 22% for large publishers and 60% for small ones. Referrals from AI chatbots have grown quickly but still account for less than 1% of the total.
This week we look at three earnings calls from companies who survive off that traffic: a publisher, a local reviews platform, and an advertising exchange. Here’s what their CEOs said.
Ziff Davis, Inc. (ZD)
Q2 2026 Earnings Call
Results…
