A growing number of publishers are considering limiting or blocking Google's access to their websites as concerns mount over the company's use of online content to train artificial intelligence models.
According to the report, Cloudflare will begin changing its default bot management settings on Sept. 15 to block multipurpose web crawlers on ad-supported sites unless publishers choose to allow them.
The report said the policy primarily targets Google's crawler, which publishers argue serves both search indexing and AI training functions.
According to the report, Google has introduced tools such as Google Extended to let publishers opt out of AI training while remaining searchable.
However, several publishing executives said they remain concerned that using those controls could reduce search visibility.
The dispute reflects broader tensions between technology companies and content creators over the use of copyrighted material to develop AI systems.
Related Tweet:
Publishers who once depended on @Google Search for most of their traffic are now considering the unthinkable: blocking Google’s crawler to stop their content from being scraped for both search indexing and AI training without compensation.
— ADWEEK (@Adweek) July 9, 2026
In this edition of "On Background,"… pic.twitter.com/b7Rrgudspb
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