On the latest Search Central Dwell Deep Dive 2025, Kenichi Suzuki requested Google’s Gary Illyes how Google measures prime quality and person satisfaction of site visitors from AI Overviews. Illyes’ response, revealed by Suzuki on LinkedIn, lined a number of factors.
Kenichi requested for particular knowledge, and Gary’s reply supplied an outline of how Google gathers exterior knowledge to kind inside opinions on how AI Overviews is perceived by customers when it comes to satisfaction. He mentioned that the info informs public statements by Google, together with these made by CEO Sundar Pichai.
Illyes started his reply by saying that he couldn’t share specifics concerning the person satisfaction knowledge, however he nonetheless continued to supply his overview.
Person Satisfaction Surveys
The primary knowledge level that Illyes talked about was person satisfaction surveys to grasp how folks really feel about AI Overviews. Kenichi wrote that Illyes mentioned:
“The general public statements made by firm leaders, similar to Sundar Pichai, are validated by this inside knowledge earlier than being made public.”
Noticed Person Habits
The second person satisfaction knowledge level that Illyes talked about was inferring from the broader market. Kenichi wrote:
“Gary recommended that one can infer person desire by trying on the broader market. He identified that the quickly rising person base for different AI instruments (like ChatGPT and Copilot) doubtless consists of the identical demographic that enjoys and finds worth in AI Overviews.”
Motivated By Person-Focus
This half means placing the person first because the motivation for introducing a brand new characteristic. Illyes particularly mentioned that inflicting a disruption shouldn’t be Google’s motivation for AI search options.
Acknowledged The Internet Ecosystem
The final level he made was to elucidate that Google’s nonetheless determining how one can stability their user-focused method with the necessity to preserve a wholesome internet ecosystem.
Kenichi wrote that Illyes mentioned:
“He completed by acknowledging that they’re nonetheless determining how one can stability this user-focused method with the necessity to proceed supporting the broader internet ecosystem.”
Balancing The Wants Of The Internet Ecosystem
On the daybreak of recent search engine marketing, Google did one thing extraordinary: they reached out to internet publishers via the most well-liked search engine marketing discussion board on the time, WebmasterWorld. Gary Illyes himself, earlier than he joined Google, was a WebmasterWorld member. This outreach by Google was the initiative of 1 Googler, Matt Cutts. Different Googlers offered interviews, however Matt Cutts, underneath the WebmasterWorld nickname of GoogleGuy, held two-way conversations with the search and writer group.
That is now not the case at Google, which is essentially again to one-way communication accompanied by intermittent social media outreach.
The search engine marketing group could share within the blame for this example, as some SEOs submit abusive responses on social media. Luckily, these individuals are within the minority, however that conduct nonetheless places a chill on the few alternatives offered to have a constructive dialogue.
It’s encouraging to listen to Illyes point out the online ecosystem, and it might be even additional encouraging to listen to Googlers, together with the CEO, focus extra on how they intend to stability the wants of the customers with these of the creators who publish content material, as a result of many really feel that Google’s present route shouldn’t be sustainable for publishers.
Featured Picture by Shutterstock/1000 Phrases
