Is Google the new encyclopaedia? After AI Overviews comes AI Mode — 'a total reimagining of search', says Sundar Pichai

Independent Singapore

24-05-2025

Is Google the new encyclopaedia? The question arises because it is no longer just retrieving information but also synthesising it in its own words through an AI Overview that sometimes appears at the top of Google search results pages. But publishers aren't happy. The News/Media Alliance, representing US and Canadian media, says publishers are deprived of traffic and revenue. Rubbing salt in the wound, they cannot stop Google from using their content.
What about copyright? Isn't using others' content without their consent a violation of copyright? Don't large media organisations employ armies of lawyers to take action against infringements? Doesn't Google itself penalise plagiarism by demoting such pages in its search rankings?
Yes, but Google's AI Overview is built in such a way that it can use content even without the publishers' consent. That's according to Google's own chatbot. Why publishers' consent not needed
Gemini says Google can train AI Overviews on web content even when publishers have opted out of training Google's AI products.
It adds:
Google DeepMind, the company's AI research lab that developed Gemini, has an opt-out policy for publishers who don't want their content used for general AI training. However, DeepMind's opt-out mechanism does not prevent Google's search organisation from using that same content for AI Overviews. See also New Developments in Google Antitrust Probe
'AI Overviews primarily draw information from Google's organic search index, which is the vast catalogue of websites Google has already crawled, rendered, and indexed to inform traditional search rankings. If a website is indexed by Google Search, its content can be used for AI Overviews,' says Gemini.
'The only way for publishers to fully prevent their content from being used by Google's search AI is to opt out of being indexed by Google Search altogether.'
But publishers don't want to be removed from Google. They want to be indexed and appear in its search results to attract readers who might not otherwise visit their sites. More content, fewer click-throughs
Google, for its part, also needs new content to satisfy users — its search results pages have been bursting with new material since the advent of AI.
The SEO marketing company BrightEdge says that 'overall search impressions for websites on Google have increased by 49%' since the launch of AI Overviews in May 2024. See also Samsung Galaxy Z Flip: news, leaks and specs
But click-through rates are down 30%, it adds. Internet users are visiting fewer web pages linked by Google, as they are getting the information they need directly from AI Overviews. AI Mode
Now, publishers face an even bigger worry—the AI Mode being rolled out by Google in the United States. 'This new feature would offer users information and answers to their queries without the array of links offered in traditional Google Search, further depriving publishers of both traffic and revenue,' the News/Media Alliance said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal explains that AI Mode answers search queries in a chatbot-style conversation without the standard list of blue links. It says AI Mode is being introduced as a new tab within Search for US users.
This feature will make interacting with Google more like having a conversation with an expert capable of answering a wide array of questions.
There are already chatbot-style search engines, such as Perplexity.ai, with growing user bases and revenues, though none yet rival Google.
But Google doesn't want to miss the chatbot bandwagon, believing that's where the future lies. It has reason to think so, as its conversational synthesis and summaries in AI Overviews are proving popular.
About 1.5 billion people now regularly engage with AI Overviews, according to Google, and most users are entering longer and more complex queries.
'What all this progress means is that we are in a new phase of the AI platform shift, where decades of research are now becoming reality for people all over the world,' Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at Google I/O 2025 on Tuesday (May 20). 'It's a total reimagining of search.'
The New York Times noted that by launching AI Mode, Google is trying to modernise its search business before AI competitors can challenge its dominance.
Google has been hesitant to fully embrace AI because it has so much to lose, says the Times. The company's search business generated nearly $200 billion last year—more than half its total revenue.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google handles as much as 90% of the world's internet searches. Now, imagine if even a quarter of those searches shift to AI Mode. Publishers have reason to lose sleep.