A new Google feature uses artificial intelligence to generate summaries of your search results, somewhat bypassing the traditional list of links. Last year, Google introduced the Search Generative Experience (SGE), which generated AI-powered search results summaries for users who opted in. Now, Google is starting to show these AI summaries to some users in the United States without asking them first.
Instead of search results being blue links, Google may now give you short summaries right at the top to answer your question. For searches like “how to get rid of water stains on wood”, Google’s AI could look through different websites and give you a quick tip. This could save you time by not having to visit websites.
Before, users had to sign up to see these summaries. But now Google is testing them on some people to see how regular users like them. While summaries may help people find answers faster, they could hurt websites. If people don’t need to visit websites to find what they’re looking for, sites may not get as much traffic. Many websites rely on traffic to make money through ads.
This change shows Google has more confidence in its AI abilities. Summaries could change how we search online in the future. But there are concerns over how it impacts websites’ businesses. It’s still early, so we’ll have to see how this new approach works out. As Google tests summaries on more people, it aims to balance helpfulness with fairness to websites. Only time will tell if people and websites both benefit from this new AI search feature.
