Google’s AI Overviews are rolling out across more than 100 countries this week. The company is expanding access and language support for its AI-generated search summaries to global users. Srinivasan "Cheenu" Venkatachary, Google’s VP of Search Quality, says that the feature can now reach over one billion global users every month.

The expansion means users in countries like Canada and Australia will see these summaries in their search results. This includes users in New Zealand, South Africa, Colombia, Chile, the Philippines, and Nigeria, among others.

In May, Google first introduced AI Overviews in the U.S. In August, it added seven more countries, including the UK, India, and Japan.

Language expansion of AI Overviews 

AI Overviews will also be available in multiple languages, including English, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. Users in the U.S. can search in Spanish and see the results summarized in that language.

Ads in AI Overviews

Google says that ads in AI Overviews will remain in their dedicated slots. These ads will display labels to show that they are different from organic search results.

This update is only for mobile users in the U.S. Google says ads will still show on the search page, but not in the AI summaries, for other locations.

New link format in AI Overviews

Google recently introduced a new link format for AI Overviews. Users can add direct links to relevant web pages within the AI text to make access faster for users. 

Google AI Overview has gained reactions since its launch. Early users claimed it provided incorrect information. A study by Rich Sanger and Laurence O'Toole found that half of the links in AI summaries are identical to those in traditional search results. 

Some publishers worry that AI summaries may hurt their content's visibility. This is despite Google's claims that the addition is boosting publishers’ traffic.

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Nelson Oboh
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