{
  "id": 15069570,
  "title": "The collapse of web coding gigs is getting ugly — AI takes over routine website development jobs, and business owners are very happy with its job so far",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/the-collapse-of-web-coding-gigs-is-getting-ugly-ai-takes-over-routine",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-16T23:25:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechRadar",
    "slug": "techradar",
    "url": "https://www.techradar.com/pro/the-collapse-of-web-coding-gigs-is-getting-ugly-ai-takes-over-routine-website-development-jobs-and-business-owners-are-very-happy-with-its-job-so-far"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Recent research conducted by Bluehost reveals that 53% of American business owners have turned to AI for website creation, rather than employing professional developers. This shift has led to a significant drop in website development job postings, with a 59% decline since early 2024. Freelancers specializing in PHP, WordPress, and HTML development have faced particularly hard times, with these categories experiencing an 59%, 58%, and 55% reduction in job opportunities respectively. Business owners who have adopted AI website generators report substantial savings, averaging $850 and 32 hours of work compared to working with traditional developers. While 72% of business owners expressed strong approval for the AI-generated websites, it appears most still modify the initial output, with 61% tweaking content and 60% altering visual elements. Despite these positive experiences, 50% of business owners are hesitant to disclose their reliance on AI technology to their customers, suggesting a cautious approach despite the overall satisfaction with AI-generated websites.",
  "summary": "AI website builders are reducing reliance on developers, with freelance postings falling sharply as small businesses increasingly create websites independently.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}