All articles tagged with #ai overviews
Google is updating AI Overviews and AI Mode to show groups of links in a hover pop-up on desktop and to use more descriptive, prominent link icons across devices, aiming to improve source visibility and potentially increase clicks to publisher sites.
Google will display links to cited sources inside its AI Overviews and AI Mode with hover-triggered pop-ups that include descriptions and images, and will show descriptive link icons in responses on desktop and mobile; the change aims to improve content discovery while regulators review AI’s effect on publishers, and Google says publishers can opt out of appearing in AI search features.
Guardian findings show Google’s AI Overviews often render medical advice at the top of search results without prominent upfront safety warnings; disclaimers only appear later when users click “Show more” and are in a small font, prompting concerns from AI experts and patient advocates about misinformation and real-world harm unless warnings are made more visible.
Google’s AI Overviews synthesize web results, but fake phone numbers planted by scammers have slipped into some summaries, sending users to impersonators who may harvest payment data. While Google says it’s strengthening anti-scam protections, the piece advises always verifying contact numbers on a company’s official site or with a separate search, since AI Overviews can still present outdated or misleading information.
Google Search now uses Gemini 3 as the default for AI Overviews and enables a seamless handoff into AI Mode, transforming the search results page into a Gemini-powered, context-aware conversational assistant that lets users ask follow-up questions without leaving the page.
Google is upgrading Search with Gemini-3 powering AI Overviews by default and adding AI Mode for seamless follow-up questions, turning search into an interactive AI experience rather than a links-first dump of results.
A Guardian investigation finds Google’s AI Overviews often provide confident, AI-generated health summaries that can be inaccurate and rely heavily on sources like YouTube, risking patient harm; experts warn that these single, context-light snippets can mislead and impede critical follow-up care, prompting Google to remove problematic health Overviews while defending overall reliability.
A SE Ranking study of 50,807 German-language health queries found YouTube to be the most cited source in Google's AI Overviews (4.43% of citations), ahead of medical portals, raising concerns about the reliability of health answers; Google defends AI Overviews as surfacing reputable sources and notes the study is region-specific to Germany.
The Verge reports that Google has disabled its AI Overviews for medical questions after a Guardian investigation found misleading and dangerous medical guidance, including incorrect pancreatic cancer dietary advice and bogus liver-test information; Google says clinicians reviewed the content, many results were supported by quality sources, and improvements are ongoing.
Google's AI Overviews appear selectively based on user engagement and usefulness, with the system learning when to show them and expanding search queries under the hood to provide relevant information. The feature is designed to assist with complex questions and is gradually incorporating limited personalization, but overall, it prioritizes consistency across users. Fluctuations in AI Overviews' presence may reflect user behavior rather than algorithm changes.
WikiHow CEO Elizabeth Douglas testified in a court case that Google, while contributing to their revenue through ad tools and licensing, is also a major factor in the decline of web traffic due to AI features like AI Overviews, which reduce users clicking through to publisher sites. She expressed concern that breaking up Google's ad business could disrupt her revenue streams, despite the company's monopolistic practices being under legal scrutiny. The case highlights the complex relationship between publishers and Google's dominant ad and search tools amid ongoing antitrust investigations.
Penske Media, publisher of Rolling Stone, has sued Google over its AI Overviews feature, claiming it reduces traffic and revenue by providing summaries that discourage users from clicking through to original content, and argues this practice benefits Google illegally. The case highlights ongoing conflicts between content creators and AI-powered search features, with other publishers also taking legal action against similar practices.
Penske Media Corporation has sued Google, accusing the tech giant of illegally using news publisher content to create AI summaries that harm their business, and of coercing publishers into allowing content republishing and training AI models, which has led to declines in traffic and revenue for publishers like Rolling Stone.
Penske Media has sued Google, alleging that AI-generated summaries using their content reduce traffic and revenue, and that Google ties search visibility to the use of publisher content without proper compensation, raising concerns over market dominance and the future of digital media.
Google's AI Overviews has been struggling with a simple question about the year 1995, often giving incorrect answers such as 29 years ago instead of 30, highlighting ongoing issues with AI accuracy and reliability.