During the recent Google I/O event in 2024, the tech giant unveiled a new feature known as ‘AI Overviews’ that utilizes generative AI to deliver results to its search engine. This innovative feature provides users with Gemini-powered summaries of their search queries. However, some users have expressed dissatisfaction with the inclusion of AI-generated answers at the top of their search results. They have reported instances of false, bizarre, and misleading information from AI.
For those who prefer web links over AI-generated answers, there is a simple workaround to remove AI overviews from search results. By selecting the ‘Web’ filter alongside the ‘Images’, ‘Videos’, and ‘News’ filters, Google will display only text-based links, eliminating AI-generated answers and other elements. Desktop users may need to click on the ‘More’ button to access the web filter, while mobile users should not experience any issues.
To make this process easier for regular users, they can customize their browser settings to automatically open the ‘Web’ filter every time they conduct a search on Google. Creating a custom site search shortcut in your browser settings is an excellent way to achieve this goal. To do so, go to your browser’s search engine section and designate a name like “Old Google” for your shortcut. Enter “https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14”” in the last field and save your changes. Now you can simply type “of” followed by your desired search query into your browser’s address bar, which will apply the ‘Web’ filter automatically without needing to manually select it every time you use it.
Overall, by using these easy steps to customize their settings or creating a new search engine shortcut in their browser settings, users can avoid any inconvenience caused by AI-generated results appearing at the top of their Google search results and streamline their online research process with more accurate information sources that are tailored specifically for them.
