Google began testing AI-summarized leads to Google Search, AI Overviews, two years in the past, and continues to broaden the function to new areas and languages. By the corporate’s estimation, it’s been a giant success. AI Overviews is now utilized by greater than 1.5 billion customers month-to-month throughout over 100 international locations.
AI Overviews compiles outcomes from across the net to reply sure questions. If you seek for one thing like “What’s generative AI?” AI Overviews will present AI-generated textual content on the high of the Google Search outcomes web page. Whereas the function has dampened site visitors to some publishers, Google sees it and different AI-powered search capabilities as probably significant income drivers and methods to spice up engagement on Search.
Final October, the corporate launched adverts in AI Overviews. Extra lately, it began testing AI Mode, which lets customers ask advanced questions and follow-ups within the move of Google Search. The latter is Google’s try and tackle chat-based search interfaces like ChatGPT search and Perplexity.
Throughout its Q1 2025 earnings name on Thursday, Google highlighted the expansion of its different AI-based search merchandise as effectively, together with Circle to Search. Circle to Search, which helps you to spotlight one thing in your smartphone’s display and ask questions on it, is now out there on greater than 250 million units, Google mentioned — up from round 200 million units as of late final yr. Circle to Search utilization rose near 40% quarter-over-quarter, in response to the corporate.
Google additionally famous in its name that visible searches on its platforms are rising at a gradual clip. In line with CEO Sundar Pichai, searches via Google Lens, Google’s multimodal AI-powered search expertise, have elevated by 5 billion since October. The variety of individuals purchasing on Lens was up over 10% in Q1, in the meantime.
The expansion comes amid intense regulatory scrutiny of Google’s search practices. The U.S. Division of Justice has been pressuring Google to spin off Chrome after the court docket discovered that the tech large had an unlawful on-line search monopoly. A federal choose has additionally dominated that Google has an adtech monopoly, opening the door to a possible breakup.
