Google isn’t kidding around about cost cutting, even slashing its FT subscription

In a significant move reflective of its ongoing cost-reduction strategy, Google has decided to terminate its enterprise subscription to the Financial Times. This decision is part of a broader initiative that sees several enterprise media subscriptions being reevaluated and cut. Despite reporting strong financial outcomes, including a revenue of $96.4 billion in Q2 2025, Google is aggressively pursuing ways to trim expenses. The company has been implementing cost-cutting measures since the beginning of the year, which include reducing managerial positions by 35% for teams with three or fewer members and offering voluntary exit programs across various divisions. Finance chief Anat Ashkenazi had indicated last year that the company would continue its efforts to further tighten budgets, and this directive remains in place. However, these cuts come at a time when Google is facing increasing tensions with news publishers. Recent data from Digital Content Next revealed a concerning trend: median referral traffic from Google Search to news publishers fell by 10% between May and June, with non-news brands suffering a 14% decline. Prominent news organizations, including CNN, Business Insider, and HuffPost, have experienced even steeper declines, with drops reported at 30%, 40%, and 40%, respectively. Many publishers attribute this decline to Google’s AI Overviews feature, which has significantly impacted external website click-through rates, reducing them from 56% to 69% since its introduction, according to research from Pew. A study of 900 U.S. adults indicated that a majority had interacted with AI-generated summaries during their searches. The cancellation of the Financial Times subscription has raised eyebrows, with some drawing parallels to a student refusing to purchase a textbook they are copying from. Criticism has been vocal, with Neil Vogel, CEO of People Inc., labeling Google a "bad actor" at a recent Fortune event. He accused Google of employing the same bot to index websites for its search engine as it does to fuel its AI functionalities. Additionally, Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next, has expressed concerns in a recent op-ed, describing Google's AI overviews as fostering a "zero-click" environment where all traffic essentially terminates at Google. As of now, Google has not provided any comments regarding these developments.