Google defends 'AI Overviews' feature after lawsuit against it

SadaNews - A senior executive at Google defended the company's use of artificial intelligence summaries in search results, a feature known as "AI Overviews," during an AI summit held in New York.

When asked about a new lawsuit filed by Penske Media, the parent company of Rolling Stone magazine, regarding Google's "AI Overviews" feature, Markham Erickson, the Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy at the company, stated that user preferences are shifting away from the "real answers" provided by original sites to the contextual summaries offered by "AI Overviews," which appear at the top of the main search results page.

Erickson explained that the company's goal is to maintain a "healthy environment" that combines AI summaries with traditional search results, according to a report from "The Verge," a technology news site that "Al Arabiya Business" reviewed.

Recent evidence has emerged indicating a sharp decline in search traffic due to AI summaries. In its lawsuit, "Penske Media" claimed that this decline in search traffic is leading to a drop in revenue for online publishers.

In response to the question, Erickson said, "We have provided links that direct users for free to billions of publications around the world. We will not abandon this model. We believe this model has benefits. It remains an important part of the environment."

This is not the first time Google faces a dilemma due to the "AI Overviews" feature; several news outlets have previously reported that Google's new smart features, including "AI Overviews," diminish visits to their sites, resulting in declining advertising and subscription revenues.

Moreover, the online education company "Chegg" filed a lawsuit against Google in February, claiming that the "AI Overviews" feature undermines demand for original content and weakens publishers' ability to compete.