The death of referral traffic began before generative AI
Reminder that the "death of clicks" isn’t just about AI.
Social media has been reducing referral traffic for years.
Long before ChatGPT exploded.
The reason is simple:
their business model.
Social media sell ads on a CPM basis.
"Cost Per Mille" or cost per thousand ad impressions.
Unlike Google Search, which sells clicks, social platforms sell impressions.
👉 If users leave the app, they can't show them ads.
They have zero incentive to let users leave.
Take TikTok.
They have more than tripled their active users since 2020.
Yet, they are still categorised as "other" in Statcounter list of social media referrers.
Essentially, the traffic TikTok sends to actual websites is insignificant!
The perfect storm:
AI Chatbots + Walled Garden Social Media = The Death of Clicks.
