Google’s AI Overviews relying much less on Reddit, new data suggests (sorry to any pizza gluers)

After recommending people put glue on pizza, Google has rightly toned down Reddit's influence on AI search results.

Google’s AI Overviews relying much less on Reddit, new data suggests (sorry to any pizza gluers)
Google or Google Search logo on smartphone stock photo (6)
Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
  • Third-party data strongly suggests Google has toned down Reddit’s influence on search results that use AI Overviews.
  • This change comes from high-profile, outrageously terrible AI Overviews results that were likely lifted from Reddit.
  • Elsewhere, Google appears to have significantly dropped the number of delivered AI Overview results, in general.

At Google I/O 2024, the company rolled out the public version of its AI-based search functionality in Google Search. Previously known as Search Generative Experience (SGE) and now known as AI Overviews, it was immediately clear at the event that Google thought this was the future of Search, by far its most important (and most lucrative) product.

However, soon after AI Overviews went live, people started to notice some truly bizarre — and, in some cases, dangerous — AI Overview results. Putting glue on pizza to prevent toppings from sliding off, eating a few small rocks a day, and drinking your own urine were just some of these results.