Everything You Need to Know About Google’s AI Overview

User interaction with Google search results is changing—and it could make or break your marketing funnel. 

Some background: Google has been rolling out a new AI-powered feature called "AI Overview" (previously known as SGE or Search Generative Experience) that aims to provide summarized answers directly on the search results page without users having to click through to websites.

• AI Overview uses generative AI to pull information from across the web and present a summary overview filled with text, images, and videos relevant to the user's search. 

• The goal? Deliver all the key details upfront, so users don’t need to scroll through pages of links.

So how does it impact paid search? According to Google, AI Overview will drive more traffic to publishers—but we’re skeptical. AI Overview raises a few concerns for marketers and advertisers relying on search traffic:

• Decrease in website traffic: With answers readily available in the AI overview, users may have less need to click through to brand websites, leading to a potential drop in traffic.

• Shrinking remarketing audiences: Fewer site visitors = smaller remarketing lists and audience pools for advertisers to leverage.

• Declining ad revenue: If people aren't visiting web pages, publishers could see a drop in views and ad revenue.

How to Prepare for AI Overview

As Google accelerates its AI overview rollout, it’s time to give your marketing funnel a makeover. Here’s what you should do:

1. Utilize broad match keywords: With AI pulling content from multiple sources, broad match keyword targeting will be crucial for ensuring your ads are eligible to appear in relevant AI overviews.

2. Leverage value-based bidding: AI Overviews might lead to a drop in overall site traffic—but more engaged users coming to your site. Value-based bidding, which allows you to prioritize conversions differently based on their value to your business, will help you optimize for higher-value outcomes when those users come to your site. 

3. Diversify measurement: Implement a multi-pronged measurement approach combining data-driven attribution, in-platform tests, and cross-channel mix models to assess true incrementality when CTR is lower.

4. Prioritize automation: Automated campaigns like Performance Max and Demand Gen can leverage AI to find customers across Google's properties and beyond.

5. Optimize for multimedia: Ensure your website has a wealth of high-quality video, image, and schema markup content that AI overviews can surface.

6. Focus on info-rich content: Quality content will be even more important as users seek reliable sources to confirm the information given to them by AI. Conduct content audits to identify gaps and create robust, information-dense resources.

The bottom line: While AI Overviews may disrupt traditional search marketing strategies, it provides an opportunity to get ahead of the competition. The key? Embrace change, test new approaches, and lean into your expertise. AI Overviews may be a threat to paid search—but they also may be an opportunity to pivot and thrive.

Today From MarketerHire: What to look for in paid search professionals

Paid search marketing is a science. If you don't have an expert running the show, you're likely pouring ad dollars down the drain. 

So how do you know when you have an expert paid search marketer? Here are a few skills to look for:

• Data analysis skills and Excel chops to make sense of metrics and optimize ROI

• Campaign planning and optimization expertise across Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Yahoo Ads

• Keyword research using tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and SEMRush

• Deep channel expertise to navigate quality scores, negative keywords, ad rank, ad groups, ad extensions, match types, text ads, and more

A skilled paid search marketing professional can make a huge difference in your marketing strategy—especially as Google introduces new features like AI Overviews.

Want to learn more about paid search marketing skills? 

Ready to start working with paid search experts? We’re ready to play matchmaker.