While Google had already made a large number of announcements at Google I/O last month, the company has not yet finished unveiling new features in its organic search results.
Is the press increasingly threatened?
During the event, many website publishers did not hide their concerns about a significant drop in traffic to their websites. Indeed, the "AI Mode" feature, which promises to present an answer generated by artificial intelligence, could drastically reduce the traffic sent by Google. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, this drop will already be dizzying for certain media outlets such as the New York Times, which is said to have lost 36% of its traffic. And if "AI Overviews" are also worrying in France, Google could add a new feature that could drive the point home... AI-powered podcasts in search results? While the generation of audio podcasts was already possible with NotebookLM, recently also available via a mobile application, Google has announced the arrival of "Audio Overviews" this last Friday.
Concretely, this feature consists of presenting an audio summary directly in the natural search results, in the same way as a podcast.
Currently being tested from Google Labs, users who participate in the program can now access these summaries with a simple click on a "Generate Audio Overview" button.
An overview of Audio Overviews – Source: Google
In the screenshots that have already been able to circulate on the web, we can see that this feature is particularly well placed, because it appears at the top of the page before the first search result.
Links directly accessible from the player
Although this new "Audio Overviews" feature will probably be very poorly received by content publishers, Google seems to want to show its credentials.
When generating audio content, the search engine should directly present the sources it used to give credence to its statements, and by adding an access link.
Easier access to information?
By deploying this new feature in its search results, Google intends to facilitate access to information for as many people as possible.
Thanks to "Audio Overviews", the company intends to convince new users to use its search engine, by offering immediate and more digestible answers.
But while this feature should be beneficial to many users, it is very likely that many media outlets will not view it favorably...
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