Google began testing AI-summarized ends in Google Search, AI Overviews, two years in the past, and continues to develop the function to new areas and languages. By the corporate’s estimation, it’s been a giant success. AI Overviews is now used by greater than 1.5 billion customers month-to-month throughout over 100 nations.
AI Overviews compiles outcomes from across the net to reply sure questions. Whenever you seek for one thing like “What’s generative AI?” AI Overviews will present AI-generated textual content on the prime of the Google Search outcomes web page. Whereas the function has dampened traffic to some publishers, Google sees it and different AI-powered search capabilities as doubtlessly significant income drivers and methods to spice up engagement on Search.
Final October, the corporate launched advertisements in AI Overviews. Extra lately, it began testing AI Mode, which lets customers ask advanced questions and follow-ups within the circulate 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 nicely, together with Circle to Search. Circle to Search, which helps you to spotlight one thing in your smartphone’s display screen and ask questions on it, is now accessible on greater than 250 million units, Google mentioned — up from around 200 million devices as of late last year. Circle to Search utilization rose near 40% quarter-over-quarter, in keeping with the corporate.
Google additionally famous in its name that visible searches on its platforms are rising at a gentle clip. In keeping with CEO Sundar Pichai, searches by way of Google Lens, Google’s multimodal AI-powered search know-how, have elevated by 5 billion since October. The variety of folks procuring 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 courtroom discovered that the tech large had an unlawful on-line search monopoly. A federal decide has additionally dominated that Google has an adtech monopoly, opening the door to a possible breakup.