{"id":3747,"date":"2025-07-28T23:37:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T23:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/google-launches-new-ai-search-feature-in-uk\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T23:37:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T23:37:20","slug":"google-launches-new-ai-search-feature-in-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/google-launches-new-ai-search-feature-in-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Google launches new AI search feature in UK"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Google launches new AI search feature in UK<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new\" class=\"sc-801dd632-0 eSlECZ\">\n<div class=\"sc-801dd632-1 eeJXtz\"><time datetime=\"2025-07-28T23:01:34.289Z\" class=\"sc-801dd632-2 IvNnh\">15 minutes ago<\/time><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new-contributors\" class=\"sc-801dd632-12 jSIeFi\">\n<div class=\"sc-801dd632-5 kRoBHa\">\n<div><span class=\"sc-801dd632-7 lasLGY\">Zoe Kleinman<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-801dd632-8 hwLppI\"><span>Technology editor<span class=\"sc-801dd632-9 gCUTrs\">\u2022<\/span>@zsk<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 kVRMhO\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-d1200759-1 kycbVO\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Wbgh3i.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/240\/cpsprodpb\/7123\/live\/96bad880-6c01-11f0-9d9e-398dc7c2c850.jpg.webp 240w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/7123\/live\/96bad880-6c01-11f0-9d9e-398dc7c2c850.jpg.webp 320w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/7123\/live\/96bad880-6c01-11f0-9d9e-398dc7c2c850.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/640\/cpsprodpb\/7123\/live\/96bad880-6c01-11f0-9d9e-398dc7c2c850.jpg.webp 640w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/800\/cpsprodpb\/7123\/live\/96bad880-6c01-11f0-9d9e-398dc7c2c850.jpg.webp 800w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/cpsprodpb\/7123\/live\/96bad880-6c01-11f0-9d9e-398dc7c2c850.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1536\/cpsprodpb\/7123\/live\/96bad880-6c01-11f0-9d9e-398dc7c2c850.jpg.webp 1536w\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/7123\/live\/96bad880-6c01-11f0-9d9e-398dc7c2c850.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Getty Images Young woman in grey pullover standing by a window and looking at her phone with a serious look on her face.\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\"><span class=\"sc-d1200759-2 gwFzuU\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\" readability=\"25\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Google is rolling out a new tool in the UK that will generate results using artificial intelligence (AI), in a significant shake-up to the world&#8217;s most popular search engine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Instead of a list of search results showing links to other websites in blue type, people who choose &#8220;AI Mode&#8221; will be given an answer written in a conversational style, containing far fewer links to other pages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">The new search tool will not replace Google&#8217;s existing search platform, which processes billions of queries every day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">But experts predict such tools will increasingly incorporate AI, a shift that is concerning organisations, firms and publishers, which rely on search traffic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\" readability=\"24\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">People are increasingly turning to AI chatbots such as ChatGPT instead of traditional search engines to find quick, simple answers to questions, even though they are not always accurate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Google itself already includes a brief AI-generated &#8220;overview&#8221; in the listed results for some searches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">And the new tool, which uses Google&#8217;s Gemini AI platform to generate its answers, has already been launched in the US and India.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">It is being rolled out in the UK over the next few days.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">For now, AI Mode will be optional and will appear both as a tab and an option within the search box itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><h2 class=\"sc-f98b1ad2-0 eOFjmw\">Complicated queries<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\" readability=\"23\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">The tech giant said it was responding to changes in the way people use its search engine to ask more complicated questions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;About two years ago, if you spilled coffee on your carpet, you would have [searched for] &#8216;clean carpet stain&#8217;,&#8221; said Google&#8217;s product manager for search, Hema Budaraju. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;That&#8217;s how you would have probably keyworded your way through. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;Now, my query is likely to be, &#8216;I spilled coffee on my Berber carpet, I&#8217;m looking for a cleaner that is pet friendly&#8217;.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 hoQmHM\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-d1200759-1 kycbVO\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Wbgh3i.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/240\/cpsprodpb\/7491\/live\/7d3a6a00-6c02-11f0-a355-0da851c7a674.jpg.webp 240w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/7491\/live\/7d3a6a00-6c02-11f0-a355-0da851c7a674.jpg.webp 320w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/7491\/live\/7d3a6a00-6c02-11f0-a355-0da851c7a674.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/640\/cpsprodpb\/7491\/live\/7d3a6a00-6c02-11f0-a355-0da851c7a674.jpg.webp 640w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/800\/cpsprodpb\/7491\/live\/7d3a6a00-6c02-11f0-a355-0da851c7a674.jpg.webp 800w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/cpsprodpb\/7491\/live\/7d3a6a00-6c02-11f0-a355-0da851c7a674.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1536\/cpsprodpb\/7491\/live\/7d3a6a00-6c02-11f0-a355-0da851c7a674.jpg.webp 1536w\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/7491\/live\/7d3a6a00-6c02-11f0-a355-0da851c7a674.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Getty Images A hand holding a mobile phone. On the screen is displayed Google across the top and then in the centre &quot;Meet AI Mode&quot;. Below that there is text explaining that this tool will provide AI-powered responses and allow the user to ask follow up questions. Below that are example queries: How do migrating birds know where to go, and Houseplants that improve air quality and don't need much light.\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\"><span class=\"sc-d1200759-2 gwFzuU\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\" readability=\"19\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">The BBC was unable to test the tool with its own questions during the demo because the tool had not yet been activated in the UK.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">But Google provided a demo using the example of someone searching for suitable places to take a young family strawberry picking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">However, the answers it provided seemed to be spread over a wide geographical area. It featured a handful of links to businesses, including their locations on a map, but they came lower down in the response, compared to a traditional Google search.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><h2 class=\"sc-f98b1ad2-0 eOFjmw\">Clicking links<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\" readability=\"41\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Businesses, from retailers to news publishers, currently rely on web traffic funnelled their way from Google&#8217;s search results. Firms can pay for prime spots on the results lists, as a form of advertising.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">A shift towards AI-generated responses, containing fewer direct links, could up-end that model.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Ms Budaraju said the firm had not yet finalised how advertising revenue for AI Mode would work, or whether firms would be able to pay to be included in the response.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">But it is already concerning some businesses, who say people are less likely to click through to their websites via the links contained in an AI summary. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Ms Budaraju disagreed with this characterisation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;I would say that I think people are going to use these technologies to unlock newer information-seeking journeys,&#8221; she said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;These kind of questions didn&#8217;t happen before, and now you made it really possible for people to express anything a lot more naturally.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">The Daily Mail claims the number of people who click its links from Google search results has fallen by around 50% on both desktop and mobile traffic since Google introduced its AI Overview feature.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">And a recent study by the Pew Research Centre suggested that people only clicked a link once in every 100 searches when there was an AI summary at the top of the page. Google argues the research methodology in that study was flawed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><h2 class=\"sc-f98b1ad2-0 eOFjmw\">News model<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\" readability=\"38\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Rosa Curling, director of the campaign group Foxglove which commissioned the research, said she was concerned what the increased use of AI might mean for news organisations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Although AI-generated summaries are often inaccurate, people weren&#8217;t clicking through to the original news items they were based on, she said, undermining the business models of news organisations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;What the AI summary now does is makes sure that the readers&#8217; eyes stay on the Google web page,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;And the advertising revenue of those news outlets is being massively impacted.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Google said it already generates more than two billion AI Overview boxes every day in more than 40 languages, although not in the EU, where legislation procludes it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">There are also significant concerns about the environmental impact of increased AI use. Running AI requires huge data centres that use a lot of power and clean water. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Ms Budaraju said Google remained committed to sustainability.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;We are constantly, as Google and as Search, evolving sustainable ways to serve technology,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"links-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dHQIrb\">\n<div class=\"sc-666b6d83-0 sc-c4fb5674-0 gMiqnK iuHqSH\"><span data-testid=\"links-title\" class=\"sc-c4fb5674-2 jdmgui\">More on Google<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Published at Mon, 28 Jul 2025 23:01:34 +0000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google launches new AI search feature in UK 15 minutes ago Zoe Kleinman Technology editor\u2022@zsk Getty Images Google is rolling out a new tool in the UK that will generate results using artificial intelligence (AI), in a significant shake-up to the world&#8217;s most popular search engine. Instead of a list of search results showing links&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/google-launches-new-ai-search-feature-in-uk\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Google launches new AI search feature in UK<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}