Google Ads VP sidesteps queries about how AI Search would affect publishers.

Google's VP/GM of Advertising (Ads on Search/Google Properties), Shashi Thakur, was questioned by Marketing Brew regarding whether or not consumers will click on links in AI Overviews in the most recent instance of tell and don't show. His reply: "We are witnessing that occur." However, he replied as follows when asked if he could provide any statistics or studies to support that assertion: I have no statistics to provide at this time. Why it matters to us. Brands and content producers who fear a decline in organic search traffic are among the many grievances Google is receiving regarding the caliber of its search results. However, Google is crafting its responses so meticulously to emphasize how much people "love AI answers" in a PR-friendly manner that it comes across as forced, unnatural, or even fraudulent.