Google AI Overviews

• Ad Grants
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• 01. 04. 2025

What Are AI Overviews?

In October 2024, Google introduced AI Overviews, a feature designed to provide users with concise, AI-generated summaries directly within search results. These overviews synthesize information from multiple sources, offering quick and relevant answers without requiring users to click through to external websites.

(Image Credit: blog.google/products/search/generative-ai-google-search-may-2024/, May 2024.)

More recently, Google expanded on this functionality with AI Mode, leveraging the power of Gemini 2.0 to enhance AI Overviews with advanced reasoning, deeper contextual understanding, and multimodal capabilities. This upgrade allows users to engage in more complex queries, receive AI-powered responses, explore follow-up questions, and access helpful web links – all within the search interface.

(Image Credit: https://blog.google/products/search/ai-mode-search/, Apr 2025)

While these advancements undoubtedly improve the search experience for users, they also bring new challenges for advertisers, particularly those relying on Google Ad Grants.

The Effect Of AI Overviews On Ad Grants Performance

Shortly after the launch of AI Overviews, we experienced a noticeable decline in impressions, clicks, and grant utilization in many of our clients’ Google Ad Grants accounts. While Google has not officially confirmed a connection, we believe that AI Overviews are a major contributing factor.

Why Is This Happening?

• AI Overviews frequently appear for low-competition, question-based keywords. Many Ad Grants campaigns rely on such keywords for traffic.
• With AI Overviews answering user queries directly, fewer people click through to websites, reducing ad impressions and overall engagement.
• The reduction in available ad space results in fewer ad placements, leading to a decline in clicks and grant spend.

Although the AI Overviews are AI-generated and not directly editable, advertisers and website owners have some control over what appears in them. Here are two ways to influence AI Overviews:

1. User feedback – Users can click the three-dot menu on an AI Overview, provide feedback, and suggest changes. If multiple users report inaccuracies or irrelevance, Google may adjust the content.
2. Search Console settings – By modifying how Google crawls and indexes a website, organizations can control which content appears in AI Overviews. More details on this can be found in Google’s official documentation: Google Developers AI Overviews.

How To Adapt To These Changes

While the impact of AI Overviews is challenging to counteract, organizations can take several steps to mitigate the losses and optimize their campaigns:

1. Leverage Performance Max (PMax) campaigns – PMax campaigns utilize Google’s AI to reach a broader audience across multiple channels, helping regain lost traffic.
2. Increase target bids – Higher bids can help you become more competitive in auctions in such a crowded landscape.
3. Optimize website content for popular keywords – Creating content on popular keywords increases your website’s relevance. Google Ad Grants work best with high-quality, relevant content, helping nonprofits maximize their ad spend.
4. Experiment with paid ads – Run commercial campaigns targeting high-value keywords alongside your Ad Grants campaigns to maximize your reach.

Ad Grants Remains A Valuable Channel

Despite these challenges, Google Ad Grants remains an incredibly valuable and highly relevant resource for nonprofits. When leveraged effectively, it offers organizations a unique opportunity to increase visibility, attract more supporters, and advance their mission. To maximize the results, nonprofits should:

• Prioritize high-quality & relevant content.
• Ensure ad & keyword relevance.
• Experiment with commercial campaigns for high-value keywords.

Our team has extensive experience navigating these shifts and can help nonprofits optimize their Ad Grants strategy for success in an AI-dominated search landscape. If your organization has experienced declines in performance due to AI Overviews, contact us for expert support and tailored solutions!

FAQ

What Is The Difference Between AI Overviews & Regular Search Results?

Unlike regular search results, which display a list of links to external websites, AI Overviews provide a direct, AI-generated summary that answers users’ questions within the search results. This reduces the need for users to click through to websites for the information they seek.

Can I Still Run Successful Campaigns Despite The Introduction Of AI Overviews?

Yes, Google Ad Grants remains a highly relevant and effective tool for nonprofits. While the introduction of AI Overviews presents new challenges, organizations can still succeed by focusing on high-quality content, optimizing for relevant keywords, and experimenting with commercial campaigns to reach high-value traffic.