Latest news with #AIOverview
Hans India
a day ago
- Business
- Hans India
Google Defends AI Search: Says Web Traffic Remains Stable Despite Concerns
Google has pushed back against criticism that its AI-powered search tools are negatively impacting web traffic. In a recent blog post, Liz Reid, the head of Google Search, asserted that the amount of traffic directed from Google has stayed 'relatively stable' compared to the same period last year. Her comments come amid mounting concerns from publishers and analysts over the rise of AI-generated summaries in search results. The controversy centers around AI Overviews, Google's feature that displays a synthesized answer at the top of search results. These summaries often provide quick answers to user queries, potentially reducing the need for users to click on individual websites. However, Reid claims that the notion of diminishing clicks is misleading and based on 'flawed methodologies' used by third-party studies. Her defense comes shortly after Pew Research released findings suggesting that users are 'less likely' to click on links when presented with an AI Overview. Despite this, Reid emphasized that while user behavior may be evolving, the overall flow of traffic remains solid. 'We continue to send billions of clicks to websites every day and believe that Search's value exchange with the web remains strong,' she said. However, it's clear that not all types of websites are experiencing the same outcomes. Reid acknowledged a shift in traffic patterns, noting that while some sites have seen drops, others are gaining traction — especially platforms that host user-generated content like forums, videos, podcasts, and 'authentic voices.' She added that users are increasingly drawn to content offering in-depth reviews, original perspectives, and thoughtful analysis. Meanwhile, the digital media industry is feeling the pressure. A report by The Wall Street Journal highlighted that major outlets such as Business Insider, The Washington Post, and HuffPost have witnessed declining traffic. These shifts — driven not only by AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot but also changes in Google's search algorithms — have already contributed to layoffs and operational shakeups within some newsrooms. Despite this turbulence, Google maintains that its AI features can add value rather than diminish it. Reid pointed out that users who do click links within AI Overviews are often more engaged and spend longer periods on those websites. 'An AI response might provide the lay of the land, but people click to dive deeper and learn more, and when they do, these clicks are more valuable,' she explained. Adding to the debate is Google's recent expansion of its AI-powered search feature, AI Mode, now accessible to all users in the United States. This has sparked fresh concerns among content creators and publishers, who fear losing visibility and revenue. The tech giant is also testing an AI-curated 'Web Guide' — a new format for displaying search results — signaling that the transformation of how users access information is still evolving. In sum, while Google insists that its AI innovations are enhancing the search experience without undercutting the web, industry reactions remain divided. The tension highlights the broader struggle between technological advancement and the sustainability of digital publishing.
Euronews
5 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Google AI summary feature deals blow to website traffic
Google's algorithm changes last year led to a plummet in search engine traffic for news websites and publishers, and even resulted in the bankruptcy of some independent publishers, including Turkey's Gazete Duvar. The technology giant is now dealing another blow to online publishers through its artificial intelligence summaries. Google's Artificial Intelligence Overview feature is a service offered by the internet giant to compete with artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT. The feature offers short summaries generated by Gemini that appear at the top of search results. Below the summary, there are details such as links to the source and a "Show more" option. In other words, when a user types a query into the Google search engine, they can get the answer in a summary without clicking on the links below. But this presents a serious risk, especially for websites that rely on Google Ads revenue and traditional search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts. Traffic of popular websites dropped The introduction of the AI Overview has particularly affected traffic to sites that feature content such as holiday guides, health tips and product reviews. According to Similarweb, search traffic to websites decreased by 55% between April 2022 and April 2025. A report published by the Wall Street Journal indicates that traffic to many well-known news sites around the world is declining. Traffic from organic search to HuffPost's desktop and mobile sites has more than halved in the last three years, while the Washington Post has seen a nearly identical decline. Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng laid off about 21% of her staff in May, citing "extreme traffic declines beyond our control" as the reason for the layoffs. The share of traffic from organic search to the New York Times' desktop and mobile sites also fell to 36.5% in April 2025. Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, predicts that traffic from Google will drop towards zero and says the company needs to improve its business model. "Google is changing from a search engine to an answer engine," Thompson said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. In an interview with the WSJ, Thompson and other industry leaders said they are trying to develop new strategies and are most concerned with building reader relationships. Users don't click on links Google executives argue that the company is committed to sending traffic to the web and that people who click on links after seeing the AI Overview tend to spend more time on these sites. However, survey studies show a different picture. According to a new study by the Pew Research Centre, only % of the 900 Google users in the US click on the source page specified as a result of a search that includes the Artificial Intelligence Overview summary. The rest are content with the short information provided by Google. Moreover, according to the study, the most frequently cited sources in both AI summaries and traditional search results are Wikipedia, YouTube (also a Google subsidiary) and Reddit. 15% of the sources in AI summaries come from these three sites. Referrals to government sites (e.g. with the 'gov' extension) are more common in AI summaries than in traditional search results. On the other hand, both AI summaries and traditional search results are equally likely to refer to news sites, at 5%. Worse still, 404 Media, a website known for specialised technology news, noticed that a story about AI-assisted music production was not showing up in Google searches. This was because Artificial Intelligence Overview summarised the content of the story, but did not link to the actual story. The site summarises the situation with the following statement: "The AI Overview ensures that information is presented in such a way that the source itself is never clicked on." SEO loses its impact The effects of the AI Overview on SEO (search engine optimisation) are also remarkable. According to the Register, the latest data showed that the click-through rate of the top-ranked site in searches with an AI summary fell by an average of 34.5%. Being on the first page is no longer as meaningful as it used to be. AI often provides false information Moreover, there is another risk: the reliability of artificial intelligence. 404 Media published a news article showing that one of the responses given by the feature in question was actually generated from another AI summary, which in turn was based on an AI source. The margin of error increases as the information moves away from the main source. This situation is described by experts as "the vicious circle of information that leads to the collapse of artificial intelligence models themselves". When there are not enough sources of quality information, users are left with inaccurate and superficial content produced by artificial intelligence. The advertising industry continues to work for Google The revenues of websites and Google are based on the following advertising cycle: Websites allow people who use search engines such as Google free access to their content. Google redirects users to websites where they see adverts as well as content. Most websites make money from these adverts. According to the BBC, an estimated 68% of internet activity starts on search engines, and around 90% of searches take place on Google. This means that websites rely heavily on Google to make money. It is stated that the Artificial Intelligence Overview mode could therefore destroy the business model that has existed for 23 years. However, Google experience no loss in this change, at least for now. Alphabet, the Google's parent company, increased its revenues to a record level in the last quarter of 2024. According to data released by the company, Google's total revenue increased by 14% compared to last year, reaching $96.4 billion. According to the Register, the bulk of the revenue still comes from advertising: exactly $54.2 billion. That's because Google now places adverts directly in or around AI Overview summaries. According to a study by SparkToro, by 2024, only 360 out of every 1,000 Google searches in the US led to sites that are not owned or advertised by Google. These rates are predicted to worsen with the rise of artificial intelligence summaries. 'Desperation not demand' While Google still dominates the market, rival AI-powered search engines such as Perplexity are slowly entering the competition. According to Bank of America executive Muhammad Rasulnejat, Google's spending of $14 billion on infrastructure investment in the last quarter alone points to "desperation in the face of competition", not growing demand. In addition to all this, the fact that the US Department of Justice still accuses Google of monopolisation creates a separate pressure. The Ministry is even demanding that Google divest its Chrome browser. The company's recent advertising and artificial intelligence moves may further inflame these debates.
Euronews
5 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Google AI summary feature deals blow link clicks and website traffic
Google's algorithm changes last year led to a plummet in search engine traffic for news websites and publishers, and even resulted in the bankruptcy of some independent publishers, including Turkey's Gazete Duvar. The technology giant is now dealing another blow to online publishers through its artificial intelligence summaries. Google's Artificial Intelligence Overview feature is a service offered by the internet giant to compete with artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT. The feature offers short summaries generated by Gemini that appear at the top of search results. Below the summary, there are details such as links to the source and a "Show more" option. In other words, when a user types a query into the Google search engine, they can get the answer in a summary without clicking on the links below. But this presents a serious risk, especially for websites that rely on Google Ads revenue and traditional search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts. Traffic of popular websites dropped The introduction of the AI Overview has particularly affected traffic to sites that feature content such as holiday guides, health tips and product reviews. According to Similarweb, search traffic to websites decreased by 55% between April 2022 and April 2025. A report published by the Wall Street Journal indicates that traffic to many well-known news sites around the world is declining. Traffic from organic search to HuffPost's desktop and mobile sites has more than halved in the last three years, while the Washington Post has seen a nearly identical decline. Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng laid off about 21% of her staff in May, citing "extreme traffic declines beyond our control" as the reason for the layoffs. The share of traffic from organic search to the New York Times' desktop and mobile sites also fell to 36.5% in April 2025. Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, predicts that traffic from Google will drop towards zero and says the company needs to improve its business model. "Google is changing from a search engine to an answer engine," Thompson said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. In an interview with the WSJ, Thompson and other industry leaders said they are trying to develop new strategies and are most concerned with building reader relationships. Users don't click on links Google executives argue that the company is committed to sending traffic to the web and that people who click on links after seeing the AI Overview tend to spend more time on these sites. However, survey studies show a different picture. According to a new study by the Pew Research Centre, only % of the 900 Google users in the US click on the source page specified as a result of a search that includes the Artificial Intelligence Overview summary. The rest are content with the short information provided by Google. Moreover, according to the study, the most frequently cited sources in both AI summaries and traditional search results are Wikipedia, YouTube (also a Google subsidiary) and Reddit. 15% of the sources in AI summaries come from these three sites. Referrals to government sites (e.g. with the 'gov' extension) are more common in AI summaries than in traditional search results. On the other hand, both AI summaries and traditional search results are equally likely to refer to news sites, at 5%. Worse still, 404 Media, a website known for specialised technology news, noticed that a story about AI-assisted music production was not showing up in Google searches. This was because Artificial Intelligence Overview summarised the content of the story, but did not link to the actual story. The site summarises the situation with the following statement: "The AI Overview ensures that information is presented in such a way that the source itself is never clicked on." SEO loses its impact The effects of the AI Overview on SEO (search engine optimisation) are also remarkable. According to the Register, the latest data showed that the click-through rate of the top-ranked site in searches with an AI summary fell by an average of 34.5%. Being on the first page is no longer as meaningful as it used to be. AI often provides false information Moreover, there is another risk: the reliability of artificial intelligence. 404 Media published a news article showing that one of the responses given by the feature in question was actually generated from another AI summary, which in turn was based on an AI source. The margin of error increases as the information moves away from the main source. This situation is described by experts as "the vicious circle of information that leads to the collapse of artificial intelligence models themselves". When there are not enough sources of quality information, users are left with inaccurate and superficial content produced by artificial intelligence. The advertising industry continues to work for Google The revenues of websites and Google are based on the following advertising cycle: Websites allow people who use search engines such as Google free access to their content. Google redirects users to websites where they see adverts as well as content. Most websites make money from these adverts. According to the BBC, an estimated 68% of internet activity starts on search engines, and around 90% of searches take place on Google. This means that websites rely heavily on Google to make money. It is stated that the Artificial Intelligence Overview mode could therefore destroy the business model that has existed for 23 years. However, Google experience no loss in this change, at least for now. Alphabet, the Google's parent company, increased its revenues to a record level in the last quarter of 2024. According to data released by the company, Google's total revenue increased by 14% compared to last year, reaching $96.4 billion. According to the Register, the bulk of the revenue still comes from advertising: exactly $54.2 billion. That's because Google now places adverts directly in or around AI Overview summaries. According to a study by SparkToro, by 2024, only 360 out of every 1,000 Google searches in the US led to sites that are not owned or advertised by Google. These rates are predicted to worsen with the rise of artificial intelligence summaries. 'Desperation not demand' While Google still dominates the market, rival AI-powered search engines such as Perplexity are slowly entering the competition. According to Bank of America executive Muhammad Rasulnejat, Google's spending of $14 billion on infrastructure investment in the last quarter alone points to "desperation in the face of competition", not growing demand. In addition to all this, the fact that the US Department of Justice still accuses Google of monopolisation creates a separate pressure. The Ministry is even demanding that Google divest its Chrome browser. The company's recent advertising and artificial intelligence moves may further inflame these debates.
Business Upturn
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Upturn
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Reminds Investors in Bitfarms or Reddit of The Class Action Lawsuits Filed and Urges Investors to Inquire About Their Rights
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Litigation Attorney Brandon Walker Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses In Bitfarms (BITF) or Reddit (RDDT) To Contact Him Directly To Discuss Their Options If you purchased or acquired securities in any of the above companies during their class period and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Bragar Eagel & Squire partner Brandon Walker or Marion Passmore directly at (212) 355-4648 NEW YORK, Aug. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that class actions have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF) and Reddit, Inc. (NYSE:RDDT). Stockholders have until the deadlines below to petition the court to serve as lead plaintiff. Additional information about each case can be found at the link provided. Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF) Class Period: March 21, 2023 and December 9, 2024 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 8, 2025 The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Bitfarms maintained deficient internal controls over financial reporting; (ii) as a result, the Company incorrectly categorized proceeds derived from the sale of digital assets as a cash flow from operating activities rather than as a cash flow from investing activities; (iii) in addition, the Company overstated the extent to which it had remediated, and/or its ability to remediate, the material weakness in its internal controls over financial reporting related to its classification of the 2021 Warrants; (iv) the foregoing errors caused Bitfarms to misstate various items in several of the Company's previously issued financial statements; (v) as a result, these financial statements were inaccurate and would likely need to be restated; and (vi) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times For more information on the Bitfarms class action go to: Reddit, Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) Class Period: October 29, 2024 and May 20, 2025 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: August 18, 2025 The complaint alleges that the social media website Reddit receives a significant portion of its user traffic from Google Search, and Reddit's primary source of revenue is generated from advertising to users on its own platform. Throughout the relevant period, Google Search began implementing new Artificial Intelligence ('AI') capabilities such as AI Overview that could change the nature of search results. Defendants are alleged to have made false and misleading statements, and failed to disclose, that: (i) changes in Google Search's algorithm and features like AI Overview were causing users to stop their query on Google Search; (ii) these algorithm changes were materially different than prior instances of reduced traffic to the Reddit website; (iii) Defendants were aware that the increase in the query term 'Reddit' on search engines was because users were getting the sought after answer from Google Search without having to go to Reddit, and not because they intended to visit Reddit; (iv) this zero-click search reality was dramatically reducing traffic to Reddit in a manner the Company was unable to overcome in the short term; and (v) Defendants, therefore, lacked a reasonable basis for its outlook on user rates and advertising revenues. On May 1, 2025, after the market close, Reddit issued an earnings release announcing its first quarter 2024 financial results for the period ending March 31, 2025. The earnings release revealed that Reddit had experienced three consecutive quarters of deceleration in daily active user growth. On this news, the price of Reddit's common stock fell $4.96 per share, or 4.2%, from a closing price of $118.79 per share on May 1, 2025, to a closing price of $113.83 per share on May 2, 2025. Then, on May 19, 2025, Wells Fargo analysts downgraded Reddit's stock and lowered their price target to $115 per share from a previous $168 per share. Wells Fargo called Google Search's implementation of new AI features as likely 'permanent' disruptions on user traffic for Reddit. On this news, the price of Reddit's common stock fell $5.24 per share, or 4.6%, from a closing price of $113.23 per share on May 16, 2025, to a closing price of $107.99 per share on May 19, 2025. Finally, on May 21, 2025, Baird analysts substantially downgraded Reddit's stock, reducing the price target to $120 per share from the previous $140 per share. Citing similar concerns as the Wells Fargo analysts, Baird analysts additionally noted the new and disruptive developments in Google Search that had just been presented at the Google I/O developer conference. On this news, the price of Reddit's common stock fell $9.79 per share, or 9.3%, from a closing price of $105.64 per share on May 20, 2025, to a closing price of $95.85 per share on May 21, 2025. For more information on the Reddit class action go to: About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit . Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Contact Information: Bragar Eagel & Squire, Walker, Esq. Marion Passmore, Esq.(212) 355-4648 [email protected]
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Scotsman
01-08-2025
- Scotsman
'Don't allow an algorithm to choose for you': Google AI Mode, and the death of news as we know it
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... How do you get your news? It's a question I ask everyone when I meet them - and yes, I'm a lot of fun at social events. But really. How do you get your news? nw How do you know? Twitter? (I won't call it X and you can't make me). Facebook? Google updates? Pushes on your phone? Do you still sit and watch the 6 o'clock news on the BBC? It may sound like a small question, but I promise you, it's one of vital importance. And it's one that has an untold impact on the world around you, because perhaps another way to ask this question is: who controls the flow of your news? Who curates what you see and how you see it? Is it a media outlet? A team of journalists using their training and decades of experience to navigate and filter, to understand context and importance ? Or is it a big tech company? Increasingly operated by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, curating your news to what you want to see and hear? News to suit you, as it were. Google's new AI Mode If you didn't know, Google has been using something called an AI Overview for some time now. If you Google something - what time are Rangers playing tonight - a helpful paragraph will magically appear at the top of your search results telling you exactly what you want to know. AI would have gained this knowledge by scraping articles across the breadth of the internet to find the answer to then helpfully hand to you, hassle free. When it was first introduced, it had some accuracy problems. But AI learns, that's what it does. And now, AI Mode has arrived in the UK, smoothly fitting into your life with no fuss or fanfare. And it's set to decimate the news industry. Billed as being far more accurate than Overview could ever hope to be in its electric sheep dreams, and having a greater reach, scraping news and analysis from websites indiscriminately to paraphrase everything you need to know in one convenient bundle of sentences magically appearing at the top of your search results. So far, so convenient. Why would you need to look further? It's quick, efficient and you're busy and have places to be and things to do. BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images But what's the problem? The problem is - and I don't mean to sound too much like Ian Malcolm, played by Jeff Goldblum, in Jurassic Park, but really, is he ever wrong? - is that no effort has been put in by the AI to acquire this knowledge. And so no responsibility need be taken. Inside the computer is not a bustling group of tiny journalists, pulling their tiny hair out as they desperately wait for a comment from Police Scotland, or the Scottish Government. It's acquired, as said above, by reading and collecting the work done by others, to curate the answer you so desperately crave. When you Google something, it is Google that decides what articles are put in front of you, what articles AI uses to take its information. Complete control over the news, not just over one site, or one newspaper. But a total and complete monopoly on information. It rewards sites and articles that conform to its conditions, and punishes others by hiding them deep at the bottom of the internet, leaving publishers uncertain whether to cave in and characterise their news in a way Google likes, or not, and leave the article as the preverbal tree falling in the wood. Google says these conditions are in place to - ironically - wheedle out spam and AI ensures it's proper, human created, factual news. But can we be sure? Incidentally, they don't pay the sites they take this information off, as they say the articles used are top of the results under the AI answer, so people can click through. But they don't. I mean, do you? So far, so terrifying. Read more here: The 20 best places to retire in Scotland in 2025 Who is responsible? The news is all bias any way through, right? Fake news left, right and centre and the mainstream media are just annoyed they can't brainwash readers. And you know what, perhaps surprisingly, I get it. The news media is far from perfect, and it has always been far from perfect. In more recent years, the internet and social media has fundamentally altered how journalism works. Deciding on how to cover the news is messy and complicated, and we don't always get it right, and we won't in the future either. But what we are, crucially - and this is the point - is regulated. If we make a mistake, we are legally culpable. Say it louder for people at the back. Can Google really say the same? If its AI Overview, or AI Mode, makes a mistake, peddles inaccurate information, who will stop them? Are they bound by Scottish contempt of court rules? Or can they ignore those too? Will they publish the names of victims of crime? Or name hotels where vulnerable asylum seekers have been moved to? Making decisions that would put a real life human editor in scorching hot water, or even, up in front of a judge. How do we hold AI accountable? Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images What can you do? AI is fundamentally changing the way you view the world. All these algorithms that are data gathering everything you touch online is then offering you a very curated view of society, culture and humanity. And its too late - it's already happened. But, you can do something - you can pay for your news. This isn't an advert, it doesn't have to be us. It can be anyone, anywhere you get your news - pay them. Your local paper, your favourite national paper. Hell, your favourite paper from anywhere in the world. Pay your licencing fee if it's the BBC. Go straight to the website or app of the news organisation you read. Don't allow an algorithm to choose for you. The news isn't perfect, but its decisions will always need to be made with human judgement and, more importantly, under strict regulation. Otherwise we descend merrily to chaos, and be careful, because we're already half way there.
