Digital news publishers in India are suffering devastating financial blows due to artificial intelligence aggressively disrupting search algorithms and referral traffic. Major legacy brands have recently seen sudden traffic declines ranging from 33% to an alarming 66% year-on-year. This steep drop completely upsets the digital advertising ecosystem, starving news websites of their primary revenue source.

The Bharat Media Association warns that AI-generated summaries are cannibalizing original reporting. We urge lawmakers to mandate fair compensation models from tech giants before this catastrophic traffic loss bankrupts independent digital newsrooms.