AI Overviews Appear in Google’s News Feed

Google is now testing artificial intelligence-generated summaries within its Discover feed, the primary news source within the Google search app. Users on iOS and Android may now see multiple publisher logos followed by an AI-synthesized overview instead of direct links to articles.

The app includes a disclaimer warning that these summaries, generated by AI, “can make mistakes.” This feature’s limited rollout suggests an ongoing experiment by the tech giant.

In addition to these AI summaries, Google is exploring other methods to present news. Some stories now feature bullet points below headlines or are grouped with related content, without explicit AI flagging.

For example, a story concerning President **Trump’s** Ukraine deal was accompanied by links to other relevant articles. Separately, a report from The Washington Post about ICE included bullet points summarizing its key information.

Publishers Grapple with AI’s Impact

This move comes as numerous publishers, including The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo, and Bloomberg, experiment with AI on their own platforms. Startups like Particle are also innovating, using AI for summarization and enabling users to explore different perspectives or ask clarifying questions.

However, the publishing industry voices significant concern about how the widespread adoption of AI will affect website traffic and referrals. Features like Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode can provide answers directly, reducing the need for users to visit publisher sites.

This trend mirrors similar developments in standalone AI applications such as ChatGPT and Perplexity, which also offer direct answers to user queries.

Revenue Efforts Fall Short as Traffic Declines

Google recently introduced Offerwall, a feature designed to help publishers diversify revenue beyond ad-dependent models. This tool allows publishers using Google Ad Manager to explore various content access methods, including micropayments, surveys, newsletter sign-ups, and ad viewing.

Nevertheless, many in the publishing sector feel these initiatives are too late, as traffic has already seen a substantial decrease.

Data from Similarweb indicates a worldwide search traffic decline of 15% year-over-year as of June. Furthermore, the number of web searches for news that do not result in a click-through to a news website rose from 56% in May 2024 to nearly 69% by May 2025.

Organic traffic has also contracted, falling from over 2.3 billion visits at its mid-2024 peak to under 1.7 billion.

While Google Discover has historically remained a significant source of clicks amidst declining Google Search traffic, the broader implementation of AI summaries could alter this dynamic, potentially diminishing clicks to publisher sites.