Google Overview: The AI Disrupting Web Search in France

Google Overview: A Revolution in Web Search

Google Overview has recently emerged in France, profoundly transforming the online search experience. This new tool relies on artificial intelligence to provide direct answers to user queries. Instead of presenting a list of links to websites, Google Overview utilizes Gemini, an AI that generates a summary of the information available on the Internet. This approach changes the way users interact with search engines, favoring synthetic answers over multiple sources. Indeed, Google Overview completely disrupts the way a search engine operates, positioning itself as a tool that plunders content from others.

Let's take a concrete example: if a user searches for "lemon tart recipe," they will no longer see a link to a reputable culinary site at the top. Instead, an AI-generated recipe will appear at the forefront of the results. This new method relegates specialized sites, which are the original sources of the content, to a secondary role. As a result, the traditional business model of search engines, which functioned like an online directory, is called into question. The AI tool, while innovative, is also prone to errors, raising concerns about its reliability. Furthermore, this transformation poses an ideological question: will users accept that their search results are produced by an AI?

Disabling Google Overview on Chrome: A Step-by-Step Guide

For users who prefer the old search method, Google offers no choice: it’s Overview or nothing. However, it is possible to bypass this feature by performing a quick manipulation on the Chrome browser. This operation, which takes less than a minute, allows users to revert to the traditional display of search results. Here are the steps to follow:

• Access the Settings of your browser by clicking on the three dots located at the top right.
• Select the Search engine tab.
• Click on Manage search engines and site search.
• Scroll down to the Site search section and click on Add.
• In the window that opens, enter Google in the Name field, http://google.com in the Shortcut field, and https://www.google.com/search?udm=14&q=%25s in the URL field.
• Click on the three dots next to this new entry and select Set as default.

After following these steps, searches conducted on Google will no longer display Overview. Chrome will show the classic results, thus bypassing the Gemini tool. For those using other browsers, the procedure is similar. If this manipulation seems complex, extensions for Chrome and Firefox can also be used to avoid AI summaries. However, these solutions are only temporary, as Google plans to continue developing its AI-based search capabilities. Users hesitant about using artificial intelligence will therefore need to explore other means to preserve the traditional search experience, which was the original purpose of Google.