NextFin News - In a definitive signal that the era of search-engine dependency may be nearing its end for premium publishers, People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel revealed on Wednesday that the company has successfully navigated a massive decline in Google referral traffic while simultaneously accelerating its digital revenue growth. Speaking during parent company IAC’s Q4 2025 earnings call on February 4, 2026, Vogel detailed a strategic pivot that has seen the publisher’s reliance on Google search drop from 70% of its traffic five years ago to just 30% today.
The shift comes as Google’s integration of zero-click generative AI search features has significantly eroded traditional click-through rates for content creators. According to Vogel, People Inc.—the media giant behind iconic brands like People, Better Homes & Gardens, and Allrecipes—lost 50% of its Google search traffic over the last two years. This traffic drought contributed to a 13% year-over-year reduction in core web sessions during the fourth quarter. However, the financial impact was inverse to the traffic trend: People Inc.’s digital revenue grew by 14% year-over-year in Q4, reaching $355 million, marking its highest digital growth rate in over a year.
The company’s resilience is built on a multi-pronged strategy of "going where the audiences are" rather than waiting for them to arrive via a search bar. Vogel noted that off-platform views—content consumed on Instagram, TikTok, Apple News, and the company’s own mobile apps—have nearly doubled over the last two years, growing 43% in the final quarter of 2025 alone. Furthermore, non-session revenue, which includes events, licensing, and social commerce, now accounts for 38% of total digital revenue, having surged 37% year-over-year to $137 million.
This performance highlights a fundamental restructuring of the digital publishing business model. For decades, the industry operated on a "search-first" paradigm where Google acted as the primary gatekeeper. The rise of AI Overviews and generative search has turned that gatekeeper into a competitor, summarizing content directly on the search results page and removing the incentive for users to visit the source. People Inc.’s response has been to treat its brands as portable ecosystems. By launching dedicated apps and deepening integrations with news aggregators, the company is reclaiming direct relationships with its audience, effectively bypassing the search intermediary.
A critical component of this independence is D/Cipher, the company’s proprietary contextual targeting platform. As the industry moves away from third-party cookies, D/Cipher allows People Inc. to monetize its audience based on intent and content context rather than tracking data. Vogel reported that this platform has gained significant momentum, contributing to a 17% increase in performance marketing revenue. By opening D/Cipher to third-party publishers, People Inc. is also diversifying its income, transforming from a pure content play into an ad-tech provider. The company expects this third-party service to contribute 2% to 3% to its overall revenue growth in 2026.
The broader economic context remains complex. While People Inc. is thriving digitally, its print business saw a 23% decline in Q4, and parent company IAC reported a 10% dip in overall revenue. U.S. President Trump’s administration has maintained a spotlight on big tech antitrust issues, and People Inc. is leaning into this environment. The company is currently pursuing an antitrust lawsuit against Google, projecting $15 million in litigation costs for 2026 in hopes of recovering hundreds of millions in damages related to ad-tech monopolies.
Looking ahead, the success of People Inc. provides a roadmap for a "Google-zero" future. As AI continues to disrupt traditional discovery, the value of a media company will increasingly be measured by the strength of its first-party data and the portability of its brand. Vogel’s strategy suggests that while the "open web" of the 2010s is fracturing, a new model based on distributed influence and diversified revenue streams is not only viable but potentially more profitable. For the rest of the publishing industry, the message from People Inc. is clear: survival in the AI age requires a radical divorce from the search-referral addiction of the past.
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