Google is starting to show ads in AI Overviews, short summaries generated by artificial intelligence to summarize search results. These reviews will also include links to the web pages that provided the information. The search engine will also have a new format of results compiled using AI.
Image source: Copilot
According to TechCrunch, the innovations are part of Google’s strategy to keep users from switching to alternative AI platforms, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Perplexity, which provide answers that users previously asked Google’s search engine. In addition, Perplexity, which has only been around for two years, reported an audience growth of up to 85 million visits per month, which, although not comparable to the scale of Google, is still not a very pleasant signal for the tech giant.
Let us remember that from the very moment of its launch, the AI Overview function was criticized for errors and dubious advice (add glue to pizza). In addition, according to a report from the SE Ranking platform, AI reports often linked to sites containing outdated data. The AI also couldn’t distinguish fact from fiction.
However, Google has already made changes to the algorithm, limiting responses to queries related to current events and health topics. “We will continue to invest in AI Overview and make the feature even more useful,” said Rhiannon Bell, vice president of user experience for Google Search, at a press briefing. According to her, the company is doing everything possible to provide users with quality content.
Steps are currently being taken to monetize AI Overview. Users in the US will soon see advertisements in AI bulletins on mobile devices. Such advertisements will be marked as “Ads” and will appear alongside regular content in AI responses. Google said it tested the ad on a limited audience and received positive feedback. “Users find advertising in AI Overview useful because it allows them to quickly find the products and services they need, when they need them,” said Shashi Thakur, vice president of Google Ads.
It’s important to note that experts estimate that AI-generated summaries could cost publishers more than $2 billion in revenue due to reduced ad impressions on their sites. According to preliminary estimates, AI Overviews will actually take away about 25% of websites’ traffic due to the fact that users, having received the necessary information in a search engine in a short format, will not go to the source sites.