Cybersecurity firm Cloudflare (NET) introduced a new tool on Wednesday that could help publishers block Google’s (GOOGL) AI Overviews without losing visibility in Google Search. For context, AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of some search results, and many publishers say that the feature uses their content without sending visitors back to their sites. As a result, this has already led to legal action against the tech giant due to traffic losses caused by the overviews.
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It also doesn’t help that Google does not currently allow publishers to opt out of AI Overviews unless they also opt out of Google Search altogether, which would be detrimental for sites that depend on Google traffic. Nevertheless, Cloudflare’s update attempts to solve this issue by making it easier for publishers to adjust their robots.txt files. These files are essentially instructions that websites give to AI systems or search engines about how their content can be used.
With Cloudflare’s tool, publishers can allow Google to use their content for search but not for AI Overviews. However, there are still some questions about how effective this solution will be. This is because Robots.txt files are not legally binding, which means that Google could simply ignore the new restrictions. In addition, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince noted that Google was informed about the update but has not agreed to follow the new rules.
Is NET Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on NET stock based on 15 Buys, eight Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average NET price target of $219.61 per share implies that shares are trading near fair value.
