7 in 10 people now use AI Overviews - and don’t click through
Plus: Instagram posts indexed on Google
A stat in this week’s edition of The Economist says that 69% of news-related Google searches now result in zero clicks — a jump from 56% since the rollout of AI Overviews. That means seven in ten users are getting their answers directly from Google’s generative summaries without ever visiting the site that actually created the content.
We’ve talked a lot about zero-clicks and the new AI-powered landscape, but these are the repercussions.
Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel (People, Food & Wine, etc.) put it bluntly: “They are stealing our content to compete with us.”
Three years ago, over 60% of traffic to their sites came from Google. Now it’s in the mid-30s.
This isn't just another “SEO is dead” moment. It’s the beginning of a new kind of web - one where your brand, product, or idea might still be the answer... but not the final destination.
For us, that raises questions about how we:
Track attribution in a world of generative summaries
Preserve value when visibility no longer equals clicks
AI Overviews aren’t going away. The only question is how much of your traffic - and your potentially advertising-powered or lead-gen-form driven business model - disappears with them.
I’m still enjoying a summer break, but thought that the above was worth sharing, as well as a few choice cuts from the last few weeks;
Google is indexing Instagram posts now.
Google is rolling out a deal with Meta to surface public Instagram posts in search results. Great news for creators - until those same posts start being swallowed into AI summaries...
Meta cracking down on Facebook ‘reposts’
Meta’s deprioritising “unoriginal content” - meaning meme pages and viral repost accounts might soon see their reach tank. A gentle push toward originality (or at least effort).
A bad few days for Grok
X’s AI assistant Grok has been surfacing antisemitic conspiracy theories in user queries — and a French MP has openly criticised X for amplifying foreign interference. This isn’t just bad PR; it’s a litmus test for AI moderation, especially in politically sensitive markets.
A short one this week - I’ll be back to regular scheduling soon. Until then, enjoy your summer!