Google Is About to Change the Whole Internet —
Edition 30 - Google Overviews are great. But don't Google it.
With the advent of generative AI, Google Search is poised to take a significant leap forward, enabling users to ask whatever is on their mind or whatever they need to get done – from research to planning to brainstorming – and letting the AI handle the legwork.
Some insights are provided by an article in New York Magazine’s Intelligencer (May 19, 2024) “Google Is About to Change the Whole Internet — Again. The company’s all-in investment in AI.”
The biggest mystery surrounding Google over the past year has concerned its core product, its original and still primary source of revenue: Will search engines be replaced by AI chatbots? In May, the company offered some clarity: “In the next era of search, AI will do the work so you don’t have to …”
The driving force behind this transformation is a new custom Gemini model tailored specifically for Google Search. This model combines Gemini's advanced capabilities, such as multi-step reasoning, planning, and multi-modality, with Google's best-in-class Search systems, unlocking a whole new world of possibilities. Great, right?
It’s a half-step into a future in which the internet, when given a query, doesn’t provide links and clues — it simply answers.
AI Overviews: Quick Answers at a Glance
One of the most talked-about features being introduced is AI Overviews. Sometimes, users want a quick answer but don't have the time or patience to piece together all the necessary information. With AI Overviews, Google Search will do the heavy lifting, providing users with concise overviews of topics along with links for further exploration.
From Intelligencer:
Any revision of Google’s search engine is consequential. The search box is one of the main interfaces through which people interact with the internet, their computers, and their phones. This half-step has been treated as a watershed event in the press, since Google’s role in the web, as both a distributor and monetizer of attention, is massive, contentious, and maybe about to change.
AI Overviews have already been used billions of times through Google's Search Labs experiment, and the feedback per Google has been positive. Users appreciate getting a quick overview and links to learn more, leading to increased usage and satisfaction with Search results.
Starting this week, AI Overviews will begin rolling out to everyone in the United States, with more countries to follow soon. Hundreds of millions of users will have access to AI Overviews, and Google expects to bring this feature to over a billion people by the end of the year.
Interestingly, AI Overviews have supposedly encouraged users to visit a more diverse range of websites, particularly for help with complex questions. Additionally, the links included in AI Overviews tend to receive more clicks than if the same page had appeared as a traditional web listing for that query. As this experience expands, Google will drive traffic to publishers and creators, while clearly distinguishing between organic and sponsored results.
So what else is under the hood?
1. Personalized AI Overviews
Soon, users will be able to adjust their AI Overviews, simplifying the language or breaking it down in more detail. This feature can be particularly useful for those new to a topic or trying to explain something in simpler terms to a child. This update will be coming soon to Search Labs for English queries in the U.S.
2. Tackling Complex Questions
With the custom Gemini model's multi-step reasoning capabilities, AI Overviews will be able to handle increasingly complex questions. Rather than breaking down a query into multiple searches, users can ask their most nuanced and detailed questions in one go.
For example, if someone is looking for a new yoga or pilates studio that is popular with locals, conveniently located for their commute, and also offers a discount for new members, they can simply search for "find the best yoga or pilates studios in Boston and show me details on their intro offers, and walking time from Beacon Hill." The AI will handle the multi-step reasoning required to provide a comprehensive answer.
3. But Wait. There’s more. “AI all the way down.”
Per The Verge (May 14, 2024) “Google is redesigning its search engine — and it’s AI all the way down”
This is nothing short of a full-stack AI-ification of search. Google is using its Gemini AI to figure out what you’re asking about, whether you’re typing, speaking, taking a picture, or shooting a video.
It’s using a new specialized Gemini model to summarize the web and show you an answer. It’s even using Gemini to design and populate the results page.
There is a catch.
4. What Happens When you google Google?
All of the great Overviews goodness Karma aside, I searched for info on Google Overviews. What I received was interesting user feedback. Do people have the patience for this extra informational goodness? I’m not sure we do.
I received/read an article on how to code a Chrome browser extension to block Overviews, with the issue being each time Google updates their search page layout one iota the extension could break and require x/y re-positioning updates to continue masking Overviews — perhaps similar to AdBlocker.
5. The catch - Will users have the patience for all of this?
When I’m searching I exhibit the patience of a gnat. If I am held up, or I’m presented something unexpected, I’ll probably use one of the newer, simpler web crawlers that will flood the market. “NO AI!” might be it’s greatest selling point.
What This All Means - Bing/ChatGPT?
User experience could be pushed hard to finesse personalized screen layouts while playing traffic cop to all of these new types of search results. Those that are turned off by these choices may search elsewhere - perhaps the much talked-about and rumored ChatGPT/Bing mashup? Unless of course there is a similar dissatisfaction here too.
Intelligencer — It’s clear enough what Google wants from AI when it comes to search: to fend off competition from the likes of OpenAI and maintain its place at the top.
…The updates to search served the secondary purpose of letting the world know that the company is all in on AI — a bet that AI offers an opportunity to profoundly reset norms around privacy, again, in favor of companies like Google.
Thank you for the read.
Feel free to share comments below. If you enjoyed this read, please smash the heart icon …
…at the top or bottom of the page so others can find this article. Re-stacking is great too.
Have a great week people!