At Google I/O, the company unveiled new AI tools that expand its search capabilities beyond traditional links, emphasizing an AI Mode for conversational queries. The AI Mode, which has shown a positive reception, allows users to ask more complex questions. Google's Gemini AI platform will enhance both its AI Overview and AI Mode, enabling more efficient query processing. However, concerns arise over declining clickthrough rates for publishers, with traditional links receiving significantly fewer clicks compared to AI-generated summaries, potentially impacting online traffic.
'They're asking longer questions, harder questions, more complex questions,' said Liz Reid, a vice president and head of Google Search. 'It really creates an experience where people can come to us and ask any question that they have.'
A custom version of the 2.5 version of Google's Gemini AI platform, debuted in March, is coming to both AI Overview and AI Mode to allow both to process more complex queries.'
But the workings of this non-conversational interface, in which Google's AI generates answers based on the content of pages it finds, also has publishers worried that fewer people will click through the links Overview shows to support its answers.
Google research shows that AI Overviews, which the company says more than 1.5 billion people now use, has driven a 10% increase in search use in the US and India.
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