Google continues to backpedal away from AI Overviews — could Reddit be to blame?

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Reddit and Quora finally out as sources of information

AI overviews
(Image credit: Google)

When Google rolled out AI Overviews in search results back in May, the company was hit with an immediate backlash; mostly due to some of the absurd results that the AI summaries were providing. These included telling people to add glue to pizza or claiming that adding more cooking oil to an oil fire would help put it out.

A week after its introduction, Google had already reduced the prevalence of AI Overviews from 27% of search results all the way down to 11%. 

The feature was designed to utilize AI tools to provide summaries of information and help users find relevant information faster. 

E-commerce searches also saw a drop from 26% to 9% as well. That may partly be attributed to Google removing product viewers and carousels from AI Overviews as well as product comparison tables. 

The more relevant information for users is what triggers AI Overviews. Using phrases that start with "Best", "What is", "How to" and "Symptoms of" are more likely to trigger an overview. However, it appears searches that include a brand name, a general product or that relate to lifestyle content either don't seem to get AI Overviews or receive them less often.

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Scott Younker
Scott Younker
West Coast Reporter

Scott Younker is the West Coast Reporter at Tom’s Guide. He covers all the lastest tech news. He’s been involved in tech since 2011 at various outlets and is on an ongoing hunt to build the easiest to use home media system. When not writing about the latest devices, you are more than welcome to discuss board games or disc golf with him. He also handles all the Connections coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game since it released.