Google is expanding its AI Overviews feature to searchers in the US and other countries, according to Liz Reid, the new head of Search at Google. AI Overviews, which was introduced as part of the Search Generative Experience in May 2023, uses generative AI technology powered by Google Gemini to provide snippets of answers to complex questions. The feature will be available to hundreds of millions of searchers in the US by next week and aims to reach over a billion users by the end of the year.
Hema Budaraju, Senior Director of Product, Search Generative Experience at Google, revealed that the click-through rate on AI Overview link cards is higher than that on normal web results. However, Google will not break down impressions and click data for AI Overview links in Google Search Console. Budaraju also mentioned that AI Overviews will not be shown for all searches, but only for more complex questions where Google can add value beyond the search results.
AI Overviews will also be accompanied by new Search Labs AI features, including multistep reasoning capabilities, planning capabilities, AI-organized search results, and a new Google Lens ask-with-video feature.
Despite the benefits of AI Overviews, there are concerns about transparency. Google will not share the percentage of queries that will generate an AI Overview and will not distinguish AI Overview impressions and clicks from traditional search in Search Console reporting. This has led to speculation that Google may be hiding information about the click-through rate to publishers.
There have also been instances where AI Overviews provided inaccurate information. Google quickly removed a response that advised drinking urine to pass a kidney stone after it was discovered. However, similar to featured snippets, AI Overviews are likely to improve over time and display fewer inaccuracies.
Content creators who do not want their sites to be included in AI Overviews can opt-out through normal search controls. However, searchers currently do not have a way to opt out of AI Overviews.
Contrary to speculation, AI Overviews will not replace featured snippets. Featured snippets will continue to be displayed in Google Search results alongside AI Overviews.
Google sees AI Overviews as the next evolution of Google Search and believes that users “love the answers” provided by the feature. The company has been testing AI Overviews for the past year and claims that it has served billions of queries using generative AI.
Overall, AI Overviews represent a significant development in Google Search, offering users more comprehensive and helpful answers to complex questions. As the feature continues to roll out globally, it remains to be seen how content creators and advertisers will adapt to this new era of search.
