Google's AI Overview: The New Feature Everyone’s Trying to Avoid?

Google’s new “AI Overview” feature in search results—Google’s latest little experiment that they’d like you to believe everyone is totally in love with. According to Google, user feedback shows that the feature’s a win. They’re putting out stats and surveys to prove how happy we are with this new layer of AI in search. But if you jump over to Reddit or any other tech forum, the vibe there tells a different story. Plenty of users aren’t as “wowed” as Google claims; in fact, they’re not here for the AI summaries at all. Complaints are piling up from people who feel like this feature is more of a hurdle than a revelation. It’s like Google forgot to ask if we actually wanted AI summarizing everything and just decided, “Yeah, they’ll love it.”

And here’s the funny part: people have started taking matters into their own hands, going to lengths to avoid the AI Overview. We’re talking about browser extensions, plugins, and even URL hacks—anything to make Google Search feel a little less AI-enhanced. Think ad blockers, but now we’re seeing “AI blockers,” specifically designed to strip out Google’s new AI layer and give users that classic search experience they remember. This whole situation brings back memories of Google’s other “game-changers” like Google Plus, Google Talk, and their other failed social pushes. Google sometimes launches these big features expecting applause, but more often, users either ignore them or find ways to work around them.

The best part? People are finding all sorts of hacks to dodge AI Overview. One of the quickest tricks is simply logging out of Google; once you’re out, the algorithm skips the AI Overview on your search results. Simple but effective if you can survive without personalized search results. Another little workaround is editing the search URL itself—tinkering with it to get back to a Google Search without all the AI gloss. It’s a pretty retro move, like the hacks we all used back in the day to dodge certain filters or bypass age gates on sites.

This feature could go in a couple of directions. Maybe it sticks around and eventually becomes part of the Google experience, evolving into something we actually appreciate. Or maybe it’s destined to be another Google Plus—a bold launch, a fair bit of backlash, and eventually a slow fade into obscurity. Google might have a good product on its hands, but if history has shown us anything, it’s that they’ve sometimes struggled to get the adoption they want with features like this.

Right now, it’s classic Google—launch something new, see how it lands, and then wait and watch. They might tweak it, double down, or quietly pull it back. For now, though, it’s clear that there are plenty of people doing their best to dodge Google’s AI experiment in search, one hack at a time.