As Google AI Overviews are being gradually introduced numerous publishers are closely watching their website traffic for fluctuations. Yet recent updates, from two media firms, Dotdash Meredith and Ziff Davis indicate that the influence of Google AI Overviews on their traffic has been relatively modest up, to this point.
Dotdash Meredith: Negligible Traffic Changes
In the Q2 2024 shareholder letter, from IAC, the company behind Dotdash Meredith they mentioned that the impact of Google AI Overviews introduced in mid May has been minimal on their website traffic. They pointed out that than half of their traffic originates from Google searches and that Google AI Overviewsre visible in about 15% of searches across various content categories with Health, Technology and Finance being the most common.
Dotdash Meredith also shared that the difference in click through rates between pages with and without Google AI Overviews has been slight. However they emphasized that it’s still days, for this development and that products can change quickly so past performance may not necessarily indicate trends.
Ziff Davis: No Significant Change to Search Experience
During the earnings call, at Ziff Davis CEO Vivek Shah discussed investor concerns regarding the impact of AI on search. The company analyzed queries in their domains that drive most of their organic search traffic. The results showed that Google AI Overviews appeared in 8% of cases indicating that 92% of search engine results pages (SERPs) for their queries did not feature an AI Overview.
Shah also referenced findings by industry experts suggesting that the overall rate of Google AI Overviews in search results is consistent. Currently Ziff Davis does not view AI Overviews as an alteration, to the search landscape.
A Cautious Approach to AI’s Impact on Search
While the initial findings, from Dotdash Meredith and Ziff Davis present a view of the effects of Google AI Overviews on publisher traffic it’s important to approach the situation cautiously. The rollout of AI Overviews has been somewhat limited and inconsistent far reaching a peak presence of 15% in May before stabilizing around 7% of queries by the end of July as indicated by research from BrightEdge.
Even though Ziff Davis currently may not see Google AI Overviews as a shift in the search experience it’s crucial to bear in mind that this is the start of AIs impact on search. Google has clearly stated that search is moving towards AI Overviews and the influence, on publishers and content creators is likely to become more noticeable as the technology advances and becomes widely integrated.
The Future of Search and AI
The introduction of Google AI Overviews signals the beginning of an era that will significantly impact search in the ten years. Generative AI is set to revolutionize the search landscape in ways. While initial reports, from Dotdash Meredith and Ziff Davis offer insights into the state of affairs they only capture a moment in a rapidly changing scenario.
As Google AI Overviews become more advanced and widespread it will be essential for publishers, SEOs and content creators to monitor how they affect traffic and user behavior. Adapting to this AI driven search environment will require an approach focused on creating high quality, engaging content that appeals to both human readers and AI algorithms.
In the future successfully integrating AI into search will depend on striking a balance between providing users with information and encouraging them to delve deeper into content, on publisher websites. As the technology powering Google AI Overviews progresses it will be intriguing to see how this interplay unfolds and how publishers adjust to the era of AI driven web search.
