Don’t let Google do your thinking for you.
If you use Google (and yes, I still do), you’ve probably noticed that it has added an AI answer to the top of its search results.
While this is sometimes convenient, a big problem with this new feature is that the AI answer is not always accurate. When I have a question, I’d rather go straight to a specific source than to sort through an app’s summary of the information, so I’ve learned to scroll past the AI answer, but I’d rather get rid of it. And now I know how to.
Google’s AI Overviews can take up a third to a half of the page of search results (depending on the device you’re using), and, according to an article in Forbes, as much as 1,500 pixels (about two full screen scrolls on a desktop and three full screen scrolls on a mobile device) if you click on the “show more” arrow.
It’s only when you get past the AI overview that you’ll see the search listings that we’re all used to—and a lot of people aren’t scrolling that far.
For the user, this means that you’re getting information curated and summarized by Google’s algorithms instead of your own individual analysis. Is that what you want?
For businesses, this means a serious drop in traffic to their sites. According to Search Engine Land, AI leads to a 60% decrease in average click through rate (CTR), which could lead to a 30% reduction in organic traffic. A study of 23 websites by Gilad David Maayan, CEO and founder of Agile SEO, found that their organic traffic dropped 18-64% after Google’s AI Overviews was launched. I don’t have a solution for that, but I have one for users.
My friend and website designer Elise Cronin-Hurley shared a great tip: You can eliminate Google’s AI Overview from your search results by typing -ai in your search query.
You’ll get a list of websites with the information and/or products you’re seeking and can determine for yourself if the sources are reliable.
If accuracy and knowing who the sources are isn’t important to you, use Google’s AI overview. If you’d rather know your sources and make your own decision about their trustworthiness, add -ai to your search queries.
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