"Have you seen those Google Discover notifications that pop up and seem like news notifications from the Google app but what they do is drive you into Google AI Mode. I find them incredibly annoying, because every time I click on it, I think I am going to a news article but instead, I am given an AI-generated AI Mode answer."
"I complained about this on X the other day. I mean, does Google really need to generate all these queries in AI Mode? Nicola Agius replied, "It's really not right. This is not an AI \"summary\"anymore. This is an AI article with all of the information stolen. Google is even doing this to publisher's big exclusives." Tom Critchlow replied, "You would think it would be possible to build the most amazing content-recommendation system using LLMs! And yet all Google seems to have imagination for is juicing query volume....""
Users report that Google Discover sends notifications that appear to be news alerts but open Google AI Mode instead of the original article. Clicked notifications produce AI-generated answers rather than directing to publisher pages, creating user confusion and frustration. The recommendations appear personalized based on Google News and the Discover feed. Several users on X criticized the practice, calling the AI outputs stolen from publishers, harmful to exclusives, and an attempt to increase query volume. Observers described the behavior as deceptive and as serving Google's internal metrics rather than user expectations.
Read at Search Engine Roundtable
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