Google will let websites opt out of its controversial generative AI search features in response to U.K. regulations that require the search giant to give publishers more control over how Google uses sites’ content.
In a blog post, Google said it was testing the new controls in its Search Console platform, which publishers use to see how their website performs in Google Search and related products. A new toggle will let people opt their websites out of appearing in generative AI functions like AI Overviews in search and Google Discover, and AI Mode.
While Google says the control won’t be used as a ranking signal for search results, it does warn that opting out will result in websites not getting traffic from Google’s generative AI features:
“Sites that opt out will not receive traffic or impressions from our generative AI features. This control will not be used as a ranking signal for search results outside of these generative AI Search features,” Google explained.
Along with the new controls, Google says it’s starting to add insights about how site content shows up in Google’s generative AI search features to Search Console. Current metrics include impressions and which pages appear in AI responses, and which countries those pages appear in.
Elsewhere, Google says it’s increasing the number of inline links that appear in generative AI responses. It also brought its Preferred Sources feature into AI Overviews and AI Mode, which will let people more prominently see information from websites they follow.
Google will start testing the new controls with websites in the U.K. first before expanding them globally.
Overall, these tools sound like welcome improvements for websites, especially as generative AI search features continue to eat up web traffic. While Google maintains that its AI search features send more traffic to websites, website owners and researchers tell a different story.
And while adding a toggle to keep your site out of AI searches seems like a good move, I’m also concerned opting out might do more damage than good when Google is pushing AI search as the default option going forward. That said, we’ve already seen a spike in users ditching Google for AI-free search options, such as what DuckDuckGo offers, so maybe we’ll see Google start offering a way for people to stick with traditional search options.
Source: Google Via: Android Authority
