Google’s head of Search, Liz Reid, instructed Bloomberg’s Odd Tons podcast that AI Overviews are lowering “bounce clicks” from writer pages, persevering with an argument she has made in public appearances since final yr.
Reid appeared on the April 23 episode of Odd Tons. Hosts Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway requested how AI Overviews have an effect on writer visitors and advert income.
What Reid Mentioned
Reid described what she known as “bounce clicks” because the class of clicks AI Overviews are lowering.
She stated customers who rapidly click on and return to look not want to go to the web page as a result of they get the actual fact from the Overview. These desirous to learn longer nonetheless click on by. She acknowledged fewer advert clicks for some queries however stated elevated question quantity balances this. The argument aligns with Reid’s factors in different public appearances.
The Sample
Reid printed a Google weblog submit in August stating that natural click on quantity from Google Search to web sites was “comparatively secure” year-over-year and that “high quality clicks,” outlined as visits the place customers don’t rapidly click on again, had elevated.
In an October Wall Road Journal interview, she explicitly used the phrase “bounced clicks” and stated that advert income with AI Overviews had been comparatively secure.
The Bloomberg look makes the identical primary case Reid made in August, describing some misplaced clicks as low-value visits the place customers would have rapidly returned to Search.
What Reid Didn’t Say
In none of these three appearances has Reid offered supporting information.
Her August weblog submit included no charts, percentages, or year-over-year comparisons. On Bloomberg, she instructed Weisenthal and Alloway that Google tracks whether or not individuals come to look extra usually as one in every of its key indicators, with out offering numbers.
Weisenthal and Alloway requested about visitors and monetization, however the interview didn’t embody follow-up questions requesting proof for Reid’s clarification.
Google has not publicly shared information that may let exterior observers take a look at that distinction.
What Unbiased Information Reveals
Chartbeat information printed within the Reuters Institute’s Journalism and Expertise Traits and Predictions 2026 report discovered that world writer Google search visitors dropped by roughly a 3rd. Google Uncover referrals fell 21% year-over-year throughout greater than 2,500 writer web sites.
Seer Interactive’s evaluation discovered that natural click-through fee for queries with AI Overviews fell from 1.76% in 2024 to 0.61% in 2025, a 61% drop. Seer famous these queries are usually informational searches that traditionally had decrease CTRs.
Pew Analysis Middle’s research of 68,000 actual search queries discovered customers clicked on outcomes 8% of the time when AI Overviews appeared, in contrast with 15% when they didn’t.
Digital Content material Subsequent, a commerce physique whose members embody the New York Instances, Condé Nast, and Vox, reported a median 10% year-over-year decline in Google search referrals throughout 19 member publishers between Could and June 2025. DCN CEO Jason Kint stated on the time that the member information provided “floor fact” about what was occurring to writer visitors.
Why This Issues
Reid’s “bounce clicks” description solutions a query the info raises, nevertheless it solutions it with out information of its personal. That’s value protecting in thoughts when evaluating any public declare from a platform that controls the measurements.
A enterprise proprietor can’t confirm from Reid’s Bloomberg look whether or not AI Overviews are slicing solely low-value clicks or slicing throughout question sorts. The unbiased information measures complete clicks and click-through charges, not the subset of clicks Reid describes as low-value. If Google has inside information that separates the 2, it hasn’t shared it within the eight months for the reason that August weblog submit.
See additionally: The Information Behind Google’s AI Overviews: What Sundar Pichai Received’t Inform You
Trying Forward
Reid stated that Google measures how usually individuals return to Search. That sign tracks Google’s retention. Publishers want a visitors metric, however Google hasn’t shared one. Till it does, “bounce clicks” needs to be handled as a declare moderately than a discovering.
