Wikipedia traffic drops 8% as AI and social media change how we search

New Delhi: The Wikimedia Foundation has reported an 8% decline in human page views on Wikipedia year-over-year, according to a blog post by Marshall Miller. 

The foundation distinguishes between traffic from humans and bots, and Miller noted that an update to Wikipedia’s bot-detection systems revealed “much of the unusually high traffic for the period of May and June was coming from bots that were built to evade detection.”

Miller attributed the decline to “the impact of generative AI and social media on how people seek information,” highlighting that “search engines are increasingly using generative AI to provide answers directly to searchers rather than linking to sites like ours” and that 

“younger generations are seeking information on social video platforms rather than the open web.” Google has disputed the claim that AI summaries reduce traffic from search.

He emphasised that Wikipedia remains a critical repository of knowledge even if fewer people are visiting the website directly. Wikipedia had experimented with AI-generated summaries of its content, though the effort was paused after editors raised concerns.

The decline in visits carries potential consequences for the platform. As Miller explained, “With fewer visits to Wikipedia, fewer volunteers may grow and enrich the content, and fewer individual donors may support this work.” 

He also noted the ongoing dedication of volunteers, including some who “reportedly disarmed a gunman at a Wikipedia editors’ conference on Friday.”

Miller encouraged companies using Wikipedia content to “encourage more visitors” to the site and outlined measures the foundation is taking, including developing a new framework for attributing content and deploying two teams tasked with reaching new readers. Wikipedia is also seeking volunteers to support its work.

He further urged the public to “support content integrity and content creation” by checking citations and engaging with human-curated knowledge. “When you search for information online, look for citations and click through to the original source material,” he said. 

“Talk with the people you know about the importance of trusted, human curated knowledge, and help them understand that the content underlying generative AI was created by real people who deserve their support.”