In a recent interview, Google CEO Sundar Pichai discussed the company’s implementation of AI in search results and addressed the concerns of publishers and website owners about its potential impact on web traffic.
Background on AI in Google Search
Google has been gradually incorporating AI-generated overviews and summaries into its search results.
These AI overviews are intended to provide users with quick answers and context upfront on the search page. However, publishers fear that this could drastically reduce website click-through rates.
Pichai claims AI drives traffic
Despite the concerns, Pichai maintained an optimistic view of how AI will affect the web ecosystem in the long term.
He says The Virgin:
“I remain optimistic. Empirically, what we are seeing over the years is that human curiosity is limitless.”
Google’s CEO stated that the company’s internal data shows greater user engagement with AI previews, including higher click-through rates on links in these previews compared to regular search results .
Pichai stated:
“When you give the context, it also exposes people to multiple ramifications, jumps, points, and so they engage more. So that’s actually what drives growth over time.”
Unfortunately, Picahi did not provide specific metrics to support this claim.
Balancing user experience and publisher interests
Pichai claims that Google tries to balance user expectations and sending traffic to the website, stating:
“I look at our journey, even over the last year through the generative search experience, and I consistently found myself prioritizing approaches that would send the most traffic while meeting user expectations.
… what we are positively surprised by is that people are getting more engaged, and that will lead to more growth over time for high-quality content.”
When pressed about anecdotal evidence of some websites losing significant traffic, Pichai cautioned against drawing broad conclusions from individual cases.
He argued that Google has provided more traffic to the web ecosystem over the past decade.
Pichai believes that the sites that lose traffic are the “aggregators in the middle.”
He stated:
“From our point of view, when I look historically, even over the last decade, we’ve provided more traffic to the ecosystem and driven that growth.
Ironically, there are times when we’ve made changes to send more traffic to smaller sites. Some of these sites that complain a lot are the aggregators in the middle.
So should the traffic go to the restaurant that has created a website with their menus and stuff or people writing about those restaurants? These are deep questions. I’m not saying there’s a right answer.”
Food for website owners and SEO professionals
For those in the SEO community, Pichai’s comments offer insight into Google’s strategy and perspective, but should be viewed with some skepticism.
While the CEO painted an optimistic picture of AI’s impact, concrete data to back up his claims was lacking. Website owners should closely monitor their analytics to gauge the real-world effects of AI overviews on their traffic.
As Google continues to roll out AI features in search, the dust is far from settled on this topic.
Pichai’s optimism aside, the true impact of AI on the web ecosystem remains to be seen. For now, publishers and SEOs must remain vigilant, adaptable and vocal about their concerns in this rapidly changing landscape.
Featured Image: Muhammad Alimaki/Shutterstock
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