Google started rolling out AI-powered overviews in web search results earlier this month. Although CEO Sundar Pichai claimed that the company has observed an increase in people using AI overviews, real-world data has revealed contradictory results.
What Happened: In a recent interview with The Verge, Pichai discussed the implications of the AI Overviews feature, which provides AI-generated answers to user queries without requiring them to click on web links.
He acknowledged the concerns of the creative community and emphasized the need to balance the value of AI-generated content with the interests of content creators.
Moreover, during Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) March 2024 quarter earnings call, Pichai said, “Based on our testing, we are encouraged that we are seeing an increase in search usage among people who use the new AI overviews as well as increased user satisfaction with the results.”
However, according to Google Trends data, people are increasingly searching for ways to “turn off AI on Google.”
Screenshot of Google Trends data
Why It Matters: Google announced the launch of the AI Overviews feature in the U.S. earlier this month, during its annual developer conference, Google I/O.
Earlier in April, Pichai expressed confidence that AI-powered search wouldn’t be “costly to serve” during the company’s Q1 earnings call.
However, this new search experience has raised concerns that it could have an adverse impact on publishers, with worries that it could result in a drop in their web traffic.
