A Love-Hate Relationship with Google’s AI Overviews

I have a confession: I really like Google’s AI overviews. As a user, they’re incredibly fast and usually spot-on. But every time I skip a click, I cringe a little. Because as an agency owner, I know that’s one less visitor for someone who probably invested real time and money into creating that content.

Last week, I asked the question: What Happens When No One Clicks Anymore? This week, several articles provided more insight.

Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, put it bluntly: “AI is killing the web’s business model.” He’s talking about the exchange that used to happen—creators publish valuable content, Google ranks it, users click, and traffic justifies the effort. Now AI is scooping up that content to train itself and then summarizing it so users never have to leave the SERP. It’s convenient, yes—but it guts the incentive to create.

Google search impressions are up 49% YOY, but click-through rates are down 30% in the last year. Case in point: The Daily Mail reported a 23% drop in search traffic at least partly because AI Overviews are summarizing the content instead of sending users to it. This isn’t an isolated case. Independent studies show that when an AI Overview appears, users often skip the click altogether.

Meanwhile, some AI Overviews have pulled from spammy or low-quality sources, adding another layer of concern for those of us helping clients build authority and trust.

So where does that leave us?

Interestingly, one report shows email marketing remains a reliable platform—23.9% more emails sent and 50% higher engagement YOY. In other words, when traffic from search is less reliable, businesses are turning back to the channels they own.

We’ve always believed that good content pays off—that effort and expertise will be rewarded with visibility and clicks. But that belief is being tested now in a very real way.

If AI is the future of search, we need to ask what kind of future that really is. Because a system that depends on content but discourages its creation isn’t innovation—it’s erosion.

WooCommerce 9.9 Promises Blazing Admin Speeds

• WooCommerce 9.9 will bring a major backend speed boost via a new Orders Table architecture that makes order management dramatically quicker.
• Tests show that the time to load the Orders screen dropped from 8 seconds to just 0.3 seconds with the new system.
• The update also lays the groundwork for future optimizations in areas like analytics and reporting as more data types are decoupled from the posts table.
• Other notable features coming in 9.9 include:
  • Blueprints which allow users to import and export store settings
  • Expansion of Order Attribution details
  • Improvements in the Product Collection Block, Cart Block, and Checkout Block
  • Cart and Checkout now include built-in gift card redemption as long as your gift card plugin supports the new interface.
  • Refinements to the product editor, especially for attributes and variations.
• WooCommerce 9.9 is scheduled for final release on June 2.
• It can be tested today using the WooCommerce Beta Tester plugin.

Post Status Acquires WP Speakers to Support Community Visibility

• Last week, Post Status acquired WP Speakers, a free community directory created by Michelle Frechette to make the process of assembling diverse speaker lineups easier for event organizers.
• The site allows speakers to list their availability, topics, bio, and location, making it easier for meetups, WordCamps, and podcasts to find relevant voices.
• If you want to increase your visibility through speaking, WP Speakers offers a smart channel to increase your exposure and connect with event organizers.
• WP Speakers currently features nearly 200 speakers and supports a wide range of formats, from in-person talks to podcast interviews and virtual webinars.

Worth a Look

• OpenAI has added GPT-4.1 to ChatGPT. 4.1 is optimized for coding tasks and instruction following. It’s available to ChatGPT Pro, Plus, or Team users.
• TikTok now lets you turn a photo to a video with a prompt.
• The FBI is warning of a new deep fake scam that uses AI generated voices to impersonate government officials.
• Running sites with subdomains? Here are some best practices for subdomain SEO.