WikiHow CEO Testifies Google’s Ad Tools Are Lifeline Amid AI-Driven Crisis, Despite Antitrust Concerns

Google is both a threat and a lifeline for independent websites like WikiHow. While the search giant’s shift toward AI-powered features such as AI Overviews has drastically reduced traffic to third-party sites, the same company remains a crucial pillar for the site’s financial survival. During the ongoing ad tech remedies trial, WikiHow CEO Elizabeth Douglas testified before Judge Leonie Brinkema, painting a picture of a business caught in a storm of technological change. Douglas described the current moment as an “AI apocalypse” for content creators. As users increasingly get answers directly from Google’s AI Overviews, they no longer click through to websites — including WikiHow’s. This decline in traffic has led to lower ad revenue, a core income stream for the site. Yet despite this existential pressure, Douglas acknowledged that Google’s ad tools — particularly its ad exchange AdX and its ad management platform DFP — are the most stable part of her business. Even as overall revenue dips, the infrastructure provided by Google continues to function reliably. In addition to ad revenue, WikiHow has a content licensing agreement with Google that accounts for 10 to 15 percent of its income. Notably, the terms of this deal do not prevent Google from using WikiHow’s content to train its AI systems — a fact that underscores the irony: the company whose tools are undermining publishers’ traffic is also the one helping them survive. The government is pushing for a remedy that would break up Google’s dominance in the publisher ad tech market, specifically by forcing the sale of AdX and possibly DFP. The Justice Department argues this is necessary to restore competition. Google, in turn, warns that such a breakup could cause disruption, especially for smaller publishers like WikiHow. Douglas echoed this concern, saying that switching to a new ad system would be a major distraction during a time when her company is already struggling to adapt to the AI-driven shift in how people find information. She expressed doubts that a new buyer of AdX would offer the same level of support, pricing, or reliability. One alternative ad platform, she noted, failed entirely and never paid out the revenue WikiHow earned through Google’s tools before shutting down. She also pointed out that Google’s ad network brings unique demand that other exchanges can’t match — a demand that stems from Google’s own massive ad ecosystem. However, during cross-examination, it became clear that Douglas was unaware of some of the ways Google had previously harmed publishers. The court had previously found that Google’s take rate on AdX was inflated due to anti-competitive practices, and that Google used its dominance in one product to force publishers into using others — a strategy that suppressed competition and reduced publisher revenue. These mechanisms were invisible to Douglas, who only sees the final net price after the auction. In the end, Douglas is torn. She sees Google as a key driver of the crisis facing independent content creators — yet she also relies on its tools to keep her business afloat. Her testimony highlights the complex reality for many small publishers: they are caught between the very forces threatening their survival and the only remaining lifelines available.