A feature called AI Overviews has been a profound change, and the browsing habits of billions of people are shifting.
G oogle has put artificial intelligence at the front and center of its search bar. The most-visited site on the internet still shows the same list of links to users, but they have to scroll past a summarized response from an AI chatbot, a feature Google calls AI Overviews.
In May, the company said more AI is coming.
As people grow accustomed to AI chatbots, they’re spending more time with Google’s and therefore more time on Google.com. Academic studies are finding that people navigate less to sites beyond Google if an AI Overview can give them a good enough answer, even if the bot cites the sites that feed it. Clicks, also known as traffic, are often the way a website earns money from advertising.
Media outlets and website owners are enduring a sustained traffic decline. Large US media companies are suing Google, alleging that AI summaries have redirected and reduced traffic to their sites, cutting into their revenue.
Google said it had not seen a decline in aggregate traffic and that such accusations are based on “flawed methodologies”.
The Guardian asked readers whether Google has improved or worsened in the age of AI and how their habits of searching the internet have changed.
Better, mainly because it leads you in your quest rather than you having to search on yourself. Sionn Achog, retired teacher 76, Dublin.
Samuel Lieberstein, 90, retired teacher, Cherry Hill, New Jersey.