{"id":1302,"date":"2026-01-12T05:19:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T21:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=1302"},"modified":"2026-01-12T05:19:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T21:19:01","slug":"google-ai-overviews-are-tested-and-removed-based-on-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=1302","title":{"rendered":"Google AI Overviews are tested and removed based on engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p> <div id=\"articleContent\" itemprop=\"articlebody\"> <div class=\"bialty-container\"> <p>Google shows AI Overviews in Search largely based on whether users engage with them \u2014 and removes them when they don\u2019t.<\/p> <p>That\u2019s according to Robby Stein, Google\u2019s VP of product for Search. In a CNN interview, Stein explained how Google tunes AI-driven results as it expands ads, personalization, and visual search across its experiences.<\/p> <p><strong>Engagement drives AI Overviews.<\/strong> Google tests AI Overviews on specific query types and keeps them only if users find them useful. If users don\u2019t click, interact, or show value, the overview disappears. The system then applies that learning to similar queries, Stein said:<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li>\u201cThe system will learn \u2014 so it\u2019ll try it \u2014 and then see if people engage with it for certain kinds of questions\u2026<\/li> <li>\u201cWhat happens is the system will learn that if it tried to do an AI Overview, no one really clicked on it or engaged with it or valued it. We have lots of metrics. We look at that. And then it won\u2019t show up. And then the system kind of generalizes that over time. And what you see at Google is a reflection of our best understanding of what\u2019s most helpful for a user for a given question.\u201d<\/li> <\/ul> <p><strong>Why we care.<\/strong> Much of the SEO conversation focuses on appearing in AI Overviews. Google is making it clear that those placements depend on user engagement. If searchers don\u2019t interact with AI Overviews for certain query types, Google may stop showing them altogether. That could reduce AI visibility for brands and publishers.<\/p> <p><strong>AI and personalization.<\/strong> Google personalizes some aspects of AI search, but Stein described it as a \u201csmaller adjustment\u201d rather than a major reshaping of results:<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li>\u201cSo if you\u2019re the kind of person that would always click a video, you might see video results higher.<\/li> <li>\u201cBut right now that\u2019s \u2026 a smaller adjustment \u2026 to the experience because we want to keep it as consistent as possible overall. But I think over time our goal is to create something that\u2019s great for you.\u201d<\/li> <\/ul> <p><strong>Ads and monetization in AI search.<\/strong> Google is actively testing ads inside AI-powered search experiences, including AI Overviews and AI Mode.<\/p> <p>Google is actively experimenting with ads inside AI-powered search experiences \u2014 including AI Overviews and AI Mode.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li>Ads will appear \u201cwhen helpful,\u201d Stein said, following Google\u2019s long-standing Search ad philosophy. He added that \u201cthe vast majority of Google searches do not have ads.\u201d<\/li> <li>AI-driven shopping, comparisons, and product research are key use cases.<\/li> <li>\u201cTransparency and clarity that this is a sponsored item is really an important principle,\u201d Stein said.<\/li> <\/ul> <p><strong>Visual search growth.<\/strong> Visual search is one of Google\u2019s fastest-growing behaviors, according to Stein.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li>Usage is up 70% year over year.<\/li> <li>About 1 billion users use visual search tools like Google Lens.<\/li> <li>Circle to Search on Android is being used product discovery, outfit matching, and real-world queries.<\/li> <\/ul> <p><strong>The CNN interview. <\/strong>The best way to search for info online in the AI era | Terms of Service<\/p> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The best way to search for info online in the AI era | Terms of Service\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4WgxWlcf1Xw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript> <\/div> <\/figure> <\/div> <hr\/> <p class=\"article-disclosure\"> <em>Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. We remain committed to providing high-quality coverage of marketing topics. Unless otherwise noted, this page\u2019s content was written by either an employee or a paid contractor of Semrush Inc.<\/em> <\/p> <hr\/> <div class=\"author-about py-4\"> <div class=\"card bg-light\"> <div class=\"row gx-0\"> <div class=\"col-12 col-lg-auto\"> <div class=\"authorImage p-2\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded avatar-border\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"Danny Goodwin\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/07\/Danny-Goodwin-scaled.jpeg.webp\" title=\"Google AI Overviews are tested and removed based on engagement\u63d2\u56fe\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded avatar-border\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/07\/Danny-Goodwin-scaled.jpeg.webp\" alt=\"Danny Goodwin\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\" title=\"Google AI Overviews are tested and removed based on engagement\u63d2\u56fe1\" \/> <\/div> <\/p><\/div> <div class=\"col-12 col-lg\"> <div class=\"card-body author-body p-2\"> <div id=\"authorBio-23878\" class=\"author-desc\"> <p>Danny Goodwin is Editorial Director of Search Engine Land &amp; Search Marketing Expo &#8211; SMX. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as Senior Editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land\u2019s SME (Subject Matter Expert) program. He also helps program U.S. SMX events. <\/p> <p>Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.<\/p> <\/p><\/div> <\/p><\/div> <\/p><\/div> <\/p><\/div> <\/p><\/div> <\/div> <p> <!-- START SIDEBAR LOWER SPACE --><\/p> <p><!-- END SIDEBAR LOWER SPACE --><\/p><\/div> <p>News#Google #Overviews #tested #removed #based #engagement1768166341<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google shows AI Overviews in Search largely based on whether users engage with them \u2014 and removes them when they don\u2019t. That\u2019s according to Robby Stein, Google\u2019s VP of product for Search. In a CNN interview, Stein explained how Google tunes AI-driven results as it expands ads, personalization, and visual search across its experiences. Engagement [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1680,1681,75,83,456,1679,1678],"class_list":["post-1302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers","tag-based","tag-engagement","tag-google","tag-news","tag-overviews","tag-removed","tag-tested"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}