The summaries generated by AI, now used by Google to respond to requests, arouse the discontent of websites. These fear a drop in traffic and, therefore, income. Google retorts that these summaries could on the contrary promote traffic.
Recently, Google has included summaries generated by AI directly into its search results. Rather than displaying a list of links, the search engine offers an immediate synthetic response, based on automated content analysis. If this innovation facilitates access to information, it worries the operators of sites who fear a drop in traffic and income.
Google, however, does not share these concerns. In a blog article, the company refutes criticism that the new functionality would lead to a drastic fall in access to conventional websites. According to the tech giant, the total number of organic clicks from its search engine to the sites has remained stable compared to last year. In addition, the “average quality of clicks” would have improved, with an increase in “high quality clicks” to websites.
According to the blog article, Google defines the “high quality clicks” as those who encourage a user to stay longer on the website he consults. “Users click to deepen their knowledge and learn more, and when they do, these clicks have more value,” says the company.
Google also notes that research has been used differently since the introduction of summaries by AI: “Users are doing more research and ask new questions that are often longer and more complex. They also see more links on the page in the IA glimps than before ”, which would offer more visibility and more opportunities to arouse clicks.
Google, however, concedes some cases where internet users actually no longer click on the link to a site: this occurs for example when a person is looking for a quick answer to a simple question, as the date of the next full moon night. “This also applies to other response features we have added, such as the Knowledge Graph or sports results,” adds Google.
According to the company, the drop in attendance at certain sites could also be linked to new trends in web use: forums, videos, podcasts and stories – “with authentic voices and first -hand views” – are booming. Detailed analyzes, original articles, unique points of view or first -hand in -depth reflections also offer more chances of attracting clicks. The firm believes that those who will be able to respond to these trends and propose this type of content may hope for an increase in their traffic.
In reality, since the introduction of these summaries by AI, Google users click much less often on links: during research with IA overview, the click rate on conventional links is only 8% – almost half of the rate observed for requests without this functionality -, according to a study by the Pew Research Center published last July. For this study, the PEW Research Center analyzed the navigation behavior of around 900 Americans, including nearly 69,000 Google requests made it possible to measure the impact of IA summaries on clicks.
