Google’s AI Overviews Cut Website Clicks as Users Spend More Time on Search
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 23
Google’s AI Overviews Cut Website Clicks as Users Spend More Time on Search
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 23
Summary
Billions of Google users are increasingly getting answers from AI Overviews before reaching the traditional list of links, shifting search behavior toward staying on Google.com longer.
Academic studies cited in the report say users click through to outside sites less often when the AI summary appears sufficient, threatening a key advertising revenue source for publishers.
Large U.S. media companies have sued Google, arguing the summaries divert traffic and reduce revenue, while Google says aggregate traffic has not declined and calls those claims methodologically flawed.
Reader responses show the split: some say AI makes search faster and more useful, while others scroll past summaries, disable them with extensions, or switch to DuckDuckGo, Ecosia or other alternatives.