Google’s head of Search, Liz Reid, informed 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 12 months.
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 Stated
Reid described what she known as “bounce clicks” because the class of clicks AI Overviews are lowering.
She stated customers who shortly click on and return to go looking not want to go to the web page as a result of they get the very fact from the Overview. These eager to learn longer nonetheless click on by way of. 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 put up 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 shortly 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 fundamental case Reid made in August, describing some misplaced clicks as low-value visits the place customers would have shortly returned to Search.
What Reid Didn’t Say
In none of these three appearances has Reid supplied supporting information.
Her August weblog put up included no charts, percentages, or year-over-year comparisons. On Bloomberg, she informed Weisenthal and Alloway that Google tracks whether or not individuals come to go looking extra typically as considered one of its key alerts, 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 might let exterior observers check that distinction.
What Unbiased Information Reveals
Chartbeat information printed within the Reuters Institute’s Journalism and Know-how Traits and Predictions 2026 report discovered that international 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 typically informational searches that traditionally had decrease CTRs.
Pew Analysis Heart’s examine 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 Might and June 2025. DCN CEO Jason Kint stated on the time that the member information provided “floor reality” about what was occurring to writer visitors.
Why This Issues
Reid’s “bounce clicks” description solutions a query the information raises, however it solutions it with out information of its personal. That’s price preserving 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 reducing solely low-value clicks or reducing throughout question varieties. The impartial information measures whole 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 because the August weblog put up.
See additionally: The Information Behind Google’s AI Overviews: What Sundar Pichai Gained’t Inform You
Trying Forward
Reid stated that Google measures how typically 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” must be handled as a declare quite than a discovering.