Tag: ai overviews

Google AI Overviews Now Showing for Just 15 Percent of Searched Queries: Report

Google recently found itself in hot water for the AI Overviews feature after it reportedly began showing incorrect and unhelpful answers for searched queries. The tech giant also issued a statement claiming it was working to address the issues. Now, a new report has found that the visibility of AI Overviews has dropped drastically, and is appearing for just 15 percent of the searched queries. Further, most of the time, the artificial intelligence feature reportedly only appears in a truncated format.

Google’s AI Overviews witness a sharp drop in visibility

According to a report by enterprise SEO platform BrightEdge, the drop in the appearance of AI Overviews in Google Search results began in mid-April. At present, the AI feature is said to be showing up for just 15 percent of the queries. On top of reducing the appearance, it was also found in the report that the majority of the AI-collated responses are showing up in a truncated format where a collapsed view of the answer can be seen.

The dwindling visibility becomes even more prominent when compared to the feature’s pre-release appearance. Before its official launch at the Google I/O event, AI Overview, which was then known as Search Generated Experience (SGE) and was an opt-in feature, appeared in 84 percent of searched queries, as per the report. One likely reason for the reduced visibility is believed to be the recent issues with the AI feature.

Google’s AI Overviews faced criticism for hallucinations

Google launched AI Overviews in the US for all users in early May, and soon after, some users began reporting incorrect and odd responses to some queries. For instance, an X (formerly known as Twitter) user posted screenshots where upon searching for “cheese not sticking to pizza”, the AI suggested using non-toxic glue to the sauce. In the following days, many users found similar issues with the feature.

Last week, the tech giant responded to the criticism and claimed it was working “quickly to address these issues, either through improvements to our algorithms or through established processes to remove responses that don’t comply with our policies.” A separate report also claimed that Google was manually turning off AI Overviews for web queries.

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Google to Soon Test Ads Within Its Recently Launched AI Overviews Feature in Search

Google is planning to test ads on its recently launched artificial intelligence (AI)-powered search experience dubbed AI Overviews. Notably, AI Overviews is a rebranded Search Generative Experience (SGE), which was released as an experimental feature to beta testers in May 2023. Now that the feature has been made generally available in the US, the tech giant is planning to introduce sponsored content within the experience. Whether these ads will be shown to a limited number of users or be shown to everyone was not revealed by the company.

The development was announced by Google in its Ads and Commerce blog post. The company said, “Soon, we’ll start testing Search and Shopping ads in AI Overviews for users in the U.S. They will have the opportunity to appear within the AI Overview in a section clearly labeled as “sponsored” when they’re relevant to both the query and the information in the AI Overview.”

Highlighting the advantage of placing ads within AI Overviews, the tech giant claimed that its early testing results have shown that people find ads placed above and below the AI-generated summary helpful. Currently, advertisers do not need to take any action to feature their ads in this space as Google continues to test its reception. Further, it said that advertisers who are running campaigns with the search engine platform under Performance Max and Standard Shopping will be picked for this space.

Answering concerns raised by some website owners, Google also claimed that the links included in AI Overviews get more clicks than those which appear via traditional web listing for a particular query. It also claimed that users who have access to the AI-generated summaries tend to use Google Search more often than those without it. However, the company did not explain if there were any specific criteria for websites to feature their links in this space. “As we continue to test and evolve the Search experience, we’ll remain focused on sending valuable traffic to publishers and creators,” the company added.

Interestingly, this development comes just a day after Google reportedly announced that it will create a specific space on smartphones where users will experience immersive content from apps they have not used in a while to bring them back to it. This feature is said to be run via Engage SDK and currently, its access is given to 35 major app developers on an invite basis.

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Google CEO Sundar Pichai Says AI Overviews Feature Helping Publishers Drive Engagement: Report

In a recent interview, Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly addressed concerns raised by independent news websites and publishers regarding the introduction of the new Google AI Overviews feature. The feature was announced at the company’s developer conference, Google I/O 2024, held on May 14. In a conversation with the Verge’s Nilay Patel last week, Pichai is said to have acknowledged the rising trepidation but brought an optimistic view on the potential issue. He reportedly stressed that the feature is resulting in improved user engagement and a higher number of clicks compared to regular search results.

The AI Overviews feature, which was previously available for access to select people via Search Labs, was rolled out on a broader scale in the US at Google I/O 2024. It leverages the company’s Gemini Large Language Model (LLM) to fulfil search queries by providing a brief overview of the same, along with the relevant links. While its introduction aims to provide information “in the blink of an eye”, independent news websites and publishers that rely on Google for web traffic have raised concerns, with some calling it a “death blow to publishers”, the Verge reports.

In a conversation with the Verge’s Nilay Patel last week, Pichai is said to have asserted the contrary, claiming that the company’s internal data reveals that the AI Overviews feature has not only led to higher engagement but also led to an increase in click-through rates. Although no metrics to support the claims were provided, Pichai reportedly highlighted that Google is attempting to maintain a balance between helping websites and providing helpful and meaningful content to users.

Websites, on the other hand, are losing traffic not to Google’s AI-powered features like SGE and AI Overviews, but to aggregators in the middle, the Verge quoted Pichai as saying. “Ironically, there are times when we have made changes to actually send more traffic to the smaller sites. Some of those sites that complain a lot are the aggregators in the middle,” the CEO said.

Pichai also reportedly expressed the importance of human-created content with the preferences of the user and the quality of content being significant. He suggested that an optimistic but cautious approach must be maintained when it comes to the integration of AI in content generation and creation.

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