Google is launching a pilot program that incorporates AI-generated article summaries on the Google News pages of selected publications, as announced in a recent blog post. This initiative includes renowned publishers such as Der Spiegel, El País, Folha, Infobae, Kompas, The Guardian, The Times of India, The Washington Examiner, and The Washington Post, among others.
The primary aim of this new AI feature is to enhance audience engagement by providing users with deeper context before they decide to click on an article. While there is a possibility that these AI-generated overviews could result in fewer clicks towards full articles, participating publishers will receive financial compensation from Google to offset any potential drop in traffic.
The AI summaries will be exclusively available on the Google News pages of the participating publishers and will not be displayed elsewhere on Google News or Search. This is not the first instance of Google utilizing AI for news summaries; a similar feature was introduced in July within the Discover section of Google’s search app, where summaries now accompany multiple publisher logos instead of a single headline.
Moreover, Google is exploring audio briefings for users who prefer auditory news consumption, also part of the same pilot initiative. These features will ensure clear attribution and direct links to the original articles.
In addition to AI summaries, Google is forging partnerships with organizations like Estadão, Antara, Yonhap, and The Associated Press to integrate real-time information in the Gemini app, further enhancing user experience.
The company also announced the global rollout of its “Preferred Sources” feature, which allows users to select their favorite news outlets to appear in the Top Stories section of Google search results. This enhancement will be accessible to English-speaking users worldwide in the coming days, with plans to extend availability to additional languages next year.
While these advancements aim to streamline access to preferred news sources, they may also risk limiting users’ exposure to diverse viewpoints. Google is simultaneously increasing inline links in AI Mode and introducing “contextual introductions” for these links, providing brief explanations to enhance user understanding of relevant content.
