AI overviews cause massive drop in search clicks

Post by carlosjobim » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 10:54 AM UTC

littlecranky67 wrote: post #233

Here is the experience when clicking a link on mobile: * Page loads, immediately when I start scrolling and reading a popup trying to get tracking consent * If I am lucky, there is a "necessary only". When unlucky I need to click "manage options" and first see how to reject all tracking * There is a sticky banner on top/bottom taking 20-30% of my screen upselling me a subscription or asking me to install their app. U…

Post by fatata123 » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 10:55 AM UTC

Arisaka1 wrote: post #251

HSO wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> faster and easier to click the HN comments link and infer the info I want from the comments Or, youre confusing primordial desire to be aligned with perceived peers -- checking what others say, then effortlessly nodding along -- with forming your own judgment.

I absolutely do that because I got so bullied that my personality shifted from self-expression to emulation. I realized that just this week because I caught myself copying a coworker he's respected and has people laughing with his jokes, and wondered why I have the tendency to do it. But I never expected that this would also link back to my tendency to skip an article and just stick to what the top comments of a sect…

Post by righthand » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 10:59 AM UTC

gtsop wrote: post #391

7222aafdcf68cfe wrote: post #364

What current incentive is left for people to publish on the internet? Discovery mechanisms are less effective than before, people no longer visit your website, copyright is dead and in the end we're just feeding an insatiable machine with slave labour. Or am I missing something ?

What was the initial incentive for people to publish on the internet before ad revenue was a thing?

Post by carlosjobim » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 11:02 AM UTC

OtherShrezzing wrote: post #222

washadjeffmad wrote: post #30

The overviews are also wrong and difficult to get fixed. Google AI has been listing incorrect internal extensions causing departments to field calls for people trying to reach unrelated divisions and services, listing times and dates of events that don't exist at our addresses that people are showing up to, and generally misdirecting and misguiding people who really need correct information from a truth source like o…

In the UK we've got amazing National Health Service informational websites[1], and regional variations of those [2]. For some issues, you might get different advice in the Scottish one than the UK-wide one. So, if you've gone into labour somewhere in the remote Highlands and Islands, you'll get different advice than if you lived in Central London, where there's a delivery room within a 30 minute drive. Google's AI ov…

Post by carlosjobim » Thu, Jul 24, 2025, 11:03 AM UTC

lazide wrote: post #322

aspenmayer wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (and angry potential customer) An angry potential customer who demands one work for free is probably not the kind of business arrangement that most folks would find agreeable. I don’t know where these people get off, but they’re free riders on the information superhighway. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

That same person might have actually paid money if they weren’t (somewhat legitimately) lied to about it being free. Or just not gone. Instead it’s the worst outcome for everyone, and everyone is angry and thinks each other are assholes. I guess that does sum up America the last few years eh?