It’s official: Google’s AI Overviews are eating search.
Ever since Google first debuted the AI-generated search summaries, web creators have feared the overviews will siphon precious clicks and upend a search experience publishers have relied upon for years. Now, it seems they have their proof.
According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, Google users who are met with an AI summary are not only less likely to click through to other websites but are also more likely to end their browsing session entirely.
Researchers found that just 8% of users who were presented with Google’s AI-generated overviews clicked on a traditional search result link, as opposed to those who did not encounter an AI summary, who clicked on a search result nearly twice as often.
Just over a quarter of searches that produced an AI summary were closed without users clicking through to any links, compared with 16% of pages with only traditional search results.
The summaries are also becoming more common. According to Pew, around one in five Google searches in March 2025 produced an AI summary, with 18% of all the Google searches in the study producing an AI summary.
AI’s search revolution
It’s easy to see why the summaries are popular. Apart from a few minor user experience tweaks, search has remained largely untouched since its conception. Up until AI-powered search entered the scene, users had been presented with a list of links, ranked by an ever-changing Google algorithm, in response to what is normally a natural-language query.
After the launch of AI-powered chatbots such as ChatGPT, the logical jump to technology’s search potential was so obvious that Google declared a “code red” internally and began pouring resources into its AI development.
Fast forward three years, and Google’s AI Overviews are facing off against AI-powered search competitors like Perplexity and ChatGPT Search.
More often than not, users who come to search engines are looking for an answer to a question. AI allows for a new, cleaner way to provide these answers, one that utilizes natural language and speeds up the search process for users.
But the trade-off for this improved experience is the lack of click-through to other websites, potentially resulting in a catastrophic decline in website traffic, especially for sites that rely on informational content or rank highly for keywords.
The study found that Google is far more likely to serve up an AI Overview in response to longer, more natural-sounding queries or questions. Just 8% of one or two-word searches produced an AI-generated summary. That figure jumps to 53% for searches containing ten words or more.
Queries phrased as full sentences, especially those that include both a noun and a verb, triggered summaries 36% of the time. Meanwhile, question-based searches were the most likely to invoke an AI response, with 60% of queries beginning with “who,” “what,” “when,” or “why” generating an Overview.
Common sources
While the overviews do link out and cite web sources, more often than not, the summaries lean heavily on a trio of Wikipedia, YouTube, and Reddit.
Collectively, these three platforms accounted for 15% of all citations in AI Overviews, almost mirroring the three sites’ 17% share of links in standard search results. Researchers found that AI Overviews were more likely to include links to Wikipedia and government websites, while standard search results featured YouTube links more prominently. Government sources represented 6% of AI-linked content, compared to just 2% in traditional results.
In another potentially ominous sign for publishers hoping to capitalize on the AI revolution, news organizations remain largely flat in both formats, making up just 5% of links in AI Overviews and standard search results alike.
Things are likely to get worse for web creators before they get better as Google leans further into AI in its search business. In May, Google unveiled a new “AI mode” search feature that intends to provide more direct answers to user questions. The answers provided by the new feature are similar to AI Overviews, and blend AI-generated responses with summarized and linked content from around the internet.
Google has continually brushed off concerns that the overviews could negatively affect web traffic for creators. The company did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment on the Pew survey.
Source link
#Googles #Overviews #cutting #oxygen #web
![Exclusive: Redwood Materials lays off 10% in restructuring to chase energy storage business | TechCrunch
Redwood Materials has laid off around 135 employees, or roughly 10% of its workforce, as it restructures to better accommodate its growing energy storage business, TechCrunch has learned.
The cuts come just five months after Redwood cut 5% of its workforce, and three months after it closed a 5 million funding round that boosted the battery recycling company’s valuation to north of billion, as TechCrunch previously reported.
It’s been a difficult time in the battery industry lately. Earlier this month, battery recycler Ascend Elements filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing “insurmountable” financial challenges. Some battery-makers have also restructured or gone out of business as the automotive industry in the U.S. has backed away from its most optimistic and ambitious plans to transition to electric vehicles.
But Redwood Materials founder and CEO JB Straubel told employees that this new round of cuts is not a sign that the company is heading down the same path.
“Redwood today is the strongest it’s ever been,” Straubel wrote in an email to the workers who weren’t laid off, according to a copy viewed by TechCrunch. “The materials business is well on its way to profitability and has an exciting roadmap ahead.”
Straubel noted that Redwood “continue[s] to dominate the US battery recycling market” but also touted the company’s “great momentum” in its new energy storage business. Redwood has recently announced deals with Crusoe AI and, most recently, electric automaker Rivian to provide recycled batteries that can be used to power those companies’ facilities. The company declined to comment beyond the contents of Straubel’s email.
In his message, Straubel wrote that “parts of the company have expanded faster than needed to support the direction” of Redwood. As a result, he said Redwood is making cuts across multiple divisions, including the engineering and operations organizations, according to an employee who was granted anonymity to discuss the layoffs.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA
|
October 13-15, 2026
“We are confident that we can deliver on our critical projects with a smaller team that is more focused,” he wrote. “We have successfully adapted to changes in the market that have bankrupted many of our competitors.”
Straubel went on to write that he is “more excited than ever with our path ahead as we build the most integrated and cost-effective critical materials and energy storage business in the world.”
“This is a self-sustaining business and will continue to make this company more valuable over time. We have the team and the technology to do what no other company can,” he wrote.
Workers who were laid off were told by Redwood’s chief HR officer that the layoffs were made “to sharpen our focus, our work and the size of our teams to support the direction Redwood is going in the future,” according to a copy of her email, which was viewed by TechCrunch.
Employees who were laid off are receiving severance and paid health benefits, according to Straubel’s email, as well as “career transition assistance.”
“I am grateful to the approximately 135 employees who we say goodbye to today — they’ve all contributed to building Redwood,” he wrote.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Exclusive #Redwood #Materials #lays #restructuring #chase #energy #storage #business #TechCrunchBatteries,battery recycling,electric vehicles,EVs,Exclusive,Redwood Materials](https://i1.wp.com/techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/53200897797_87d290a75e_o.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 "Exclusive: Redwood Materials lays off 10% in restructuring to chase energy storage business | TechCrunch
Redwood Materials has laid off around 135 employees, or roughly 10% of its workforce, as it restructures to better accommodate its growing energy storage business, TechCrunch has learned.
The cuts come just five months after Redwood cut 5% of its workforce, and three months after it closed a 5 million funding round that boosted the battery recycling company’s valuation to north of billion, as TechCrunch previously reported.
It’s been a difficult time in the battery industry lately. Earlier this month, battery recycler Ascend Elements filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing “insurmountable” financial challenges. Some battery-makers have also restructured or gone out of business as the automotive industry in the U.S. has backed away from its most optimistic and ambitious plans to transition to electric vehicles.
But Redwood Materials founder and CEO JB Straubel told employees that this new round of cuts is not a sign that the company is heading down the same path.
“Redwood today is the strongest it’s ever been,” Straubel wrote in an email to the workers who weren’t laid off, according to a copy viewed by TechCrunch. “The materials business is well on its way to profitability and has an exciting roadmap ahead.”
Straubel noted that Redwood “continue[s] to dominate the US battery recycling market” but also touted the company’s “great momentum” in its new energy storage business. Redwood has recently announced deals with Crusoe AI and, most recently, electric automaker Rivian to provide recycled batteries that can be used to power those companies’ facilities. The company declined to comment beyond the contents of Straubel’s email.
In his message, Straubel wrote that “parts of the company have expanded faster than needed to support the direction” of Redwood. As a result, he said Redwood is making cuts across multiple divisions, including the engineering and operations organizations, according to an employee who was granted anonymity to discuss the layoffs.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA
|
October 13-15, 2026
“We are confident that we can deliver on our critical projects with a smaller team that is more focused,” he wrote. “We have successfully adapted to changes in the market that have bankrupted many of our competitors.”
Straubel went on to write that he is “more excited than ever with our path ahead as we build the most integrated and cost-effective critical materials and energy storage business in the world.”
“This is a self-sustaining business and will continue to make this company more valuable over time. We have the team and the technology to do what no other company can,” he wrote.
Workers who were laid off were told by Redwood’s chief HR officer that the layoffs were made “to sharpen our focus, our work and the size of our teams to support the direction Redwood is going in the future,” according to a copy of her email, which was viewed by TechCrunch.
Employees who were laid off are receiving severance and paid health benefits, according to Straubel’s email, as well as “career transition assistance.”
“I am grateful to the approximately 135 employees who we say goodbye to today — they’ve all contributed to building Redwood,” he wrote.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Exclusive #Redwood #Materials #lays #restructuring #chase #energy #storage #business #TechCrunchBatteries,battery recycling,electric vehicles,EVs,Exclusive,Redwood Materials")
Post Comment