Google Says Missing Source Clicks on Discover AI Summaries Came From a Bug in a Test
TLDR
Rajan Patel said on X that disabled source clicks on Google Discover AI summaries were a bug in an experiment that has since been turned off.
What this means for your site
- Status
- Test
- Platform
- Google Search
- Affects
- Discover AI summaries, source clicks
- Who
- Not specified in the source
- Effective
- Not specified in the source
- Action needed
- Not specified in the source
Optimixed Overview
Optimixed's original report on this story.
Rajan Patel said on X that the disabled source clicks on Google Discover AI summaries were a bug in an experiment, and that the experiment has been turned off, as first reported by Search Engine Journal.
How we got here
- Oct 26Google is testing disabled clicks on the sources section of Discover cards
Google is testing a change that would prevent users from clicking through to source articles within its Discover cards.
- Sep 21Research finds Google's AI mode reduces click-through rates and delivers poor user experience
New research indicates Google's AI mode reduces organic click-through rates and produces a poor user experience for searchers.
- Aug 17Google Performance Reports Showing Drops in Impressions and Clicks Since August 12
Google Search Console's performance reports are showing widespread drops in impressions and clicks starting mid-August, likely due to a bug.
- Aug 17Google Halts Experiment Generating AI Images for Recipe Results in Search
Google has scrapped a test that auto-generated AI images summarizing recipes in Search, after creators objected that it bypassed their original photography and content work.