Google is rolling out its “Search Generative Experience” (SGE) to all users in the United States, regardless of whether they opted in or not. This feature, introduced a year ago, utilizes AI to generate summaries of search results, including definitions, product reviews, and articles. The goal is to streamline the search process by providing users with synthesized information instead of requiring them to click through multiple links.
SGE was previously a voluntary option for users, but it will now be enabled automatically for all US searches. Regardless of whether they have toggled on SGE, users will soon see SGE overviews at the top of their results, a Google spokesman stated.
Although SGE will appear on a “subset of queries, on a small percentage of search traffic in the US,” users won’t be able to tell at the time of query entry which queries will trigger an SGE answer. Google only knows this, and its metric is not entirely objective.
“Google said it has a high confidence in the quality and value these queries bring to users.” “In general, Google told us it would show AI overviews when it’s truly additive and in the instances when people would get a better response than what they’d see on Search today,” said Barry Schwartz from Search Engine Land.
Schwartz issues a warning that this modification may affect the flow of visitors to websites that would typically draw inbound links. Google demonstrated, for instance, that searching for black-thighed falconets might yield enough SGE results to crowd out any links to websites.
SGE may also make the user experience more difficult. An increasing number of Google users are complaining about how difficult it is to navigate due to the search engine’s profusion of advertisements. Because some people use alternative search engines like Reddit and TikTok, Google launched the Perspectives area with posts from everyday internet users.
Search Engine Land received confirmation from Google that advertisements will still appear next to SGE summaries, despite the expectation that SGE would provide some respite from scrolling through sponsored search results. Even Google’s AI seems to have products to endorse.