Google’s AI Overviews Are Deeply Impacting Publisher Visibility On Search, New Study Shows

A new study is shedding light on Google’s AI Overviews and how they are negatively impacting the visibility of publishers inside search results.

Image: DIW-Aigen

For those who might not be aware, Google delivers AI-generated summaries at the top of search results for all of its users across the US and UK. While this technology was first cut back in May of this year, thanks to the widespread inaccuracies, it’s back.

Google says it has worked long and hard to fix the errors that many had noticed in the past. Now, it appears like it’s back to where we began as a study carried out on queries in the US and UK showed how Overviews continued to trend, affecting up to 17% of all search results in these regions.

The authors also highlighted how AI-generated summaries are rarely ever delivered by Google when the topic of discussion is current affairs. However, they do negatively impact publisher visibility when seen in search for content that’s not time-sensitive.

In the past, we saw a leading website under the ownership of Martha Steward take the lead position for search results linked to killing wasps. Now, AI versions have replaced that easily and take the lead in the search along with sponsored links. The old trending article from Martha Stewart is found towards the bottom third of the page.

Plenty of other examples can be found where old trending stories are now nowhere to be seen and therefore cannot compete with the rankings of new AI-generated stories which makes authors upset. If that was not enough, link symbols on AI Overviews ensure readers stay on Google’s website and stop them from hovering over the source directly. They just open a source window that needs another click to open.

Google’s AI Overviews will soon turn into the norm for search results, as explained by one research expert. It was first a test that was limited to content type and region. Now, it’s getting famous around the globe. And will soon include all topics where AIO results are displayed.

Google will also not provide any useful data on its Search Console about clicks and publisher traffic. Most of the world will need to come up with better tools to estimate their content’s impact through data from API and SERPs.

All in all, the future for publishers does not appear too great thanks to Google’s latest venture. Experts predict it will have a negative impact unless a publisher already has a leading position across AIO.

Today, the Android maker has the single biggest traffic source for nearly all news publishers. Such findings suggest even if the past organic ranking had a good foundation, AI Overviews might force you to do better to fight with competition.

As per Google, its AI Overviews generate a greater number of clicks than that seen with search results in the past. However, they’re yet to provide evidence on this front.

H/T: Pressgazette

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World