Digital Economy

Google Audio Overviews: voice summaries for searches arrive

This new feature makes life easier for users, but risks emptying website traffic

18 June 2025

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In recent days, Google announced a new experimental function that could revolutionise the way we consume information online. These are 'Audio Overviews', voice summaries automatically generated by artificial intelligence to answer search queries. When the user enters a specific query, Google proposes a 'Generate Audio Overview' button under some results (for now only in English and for users in the US). In a few seconds, a player is activated that explains the topic through two Ai-generated voices. "Looking for a topic you don't know? Audio Overview can help you get your bearings, offering a convenient, hands-free way to absorb information, whether you're multitasking or simply prefer an audio experience,' Google explains in its official announcement

Audio Overviews are the voice extension of the existing AI Overviews: Ai-generated written summaries, introduced in 2023 and now integrated into text searches. Designed to provide a quick and integrated overview, they combine text summaries using different sources and appear at the top of organic results. This is how Google is transforming Search: from a simple list of links to a true answer engine that is increasingly conversational and multimedia, in line with the multitasking habits of contemporary users.

How Audio Overviews works

Audio Overviews are accessible through Google Labs, the company's experimental environment. The system is activated when the algorithm considers an audio overview to be useful for a specific query. In that case, a 'Generate Audio Overview' button appears below some results. Once activated, an audio player appears with essential controls: play/pause, volume and playback speed adjustment.

The interface also includes a carousel with links to the sources used to generate the content, thus offering the possibility - at least theoretically - to delve deeper into the topics discussed by consulting the original sites directly.

This innovation is a natural extension of the functionality of NotebookLM, Google's Ai assistant designed for summarising notes and documents. There, too, artificial intelligence is able to return vocal summaries in conversational format, similar to a two-voice podcast, which are surprising in terms of fluency and accuracy.

The other side of the coin: fewer clicks to original sources

The question many are asking is inevitable: are conversational assistants that simplify searches eroding traffic to the original websites? For Google - which operates a de facto quasi-monopoly on online search - the new Audio Overviews function fits into a context already made critical by the spread of AI Overviews.

A recent analysis cited by the Wall Street Journal and based on Similarweb data shows that organic traffic from Google to the New York Times desktop and mobile sites dropped to 36.5% in April 2025, down from 44% in 2022. A significant drop for one of the world's most influential newspapers.

But the problem is systemic: in three years, search traffic has fallen by more than 50 per cent for Business Insider, HuffPost and the Washington Post, confirming that the phenomenon is affecting the entire American publishing landscape across the board. The reason is simple: today, users can get answers directly from an AI assistant - often based on journalistic content - without ever clicking on a blue link.

Google, for its part, claims that AI Overviews have increased overall traffic on Search. However, this aggregate growth does not necessarily translate into benefits for publishers, who see the direct visibility of their content shrinking. And the imminent arrival of AI Mode - a new interactive and conversational experience that further reduces external links - risks making the situation worse.

The paradox is obvious: tools designed to improve the user experience risk compromising the sustainability of those who create that content. It is a vicious circle that could impoverish the entire information ecosystem, both in economic terms and in terms of pluralism.

The survival strategies of the information giants

Faced with this profound transformation of the digital landscape, some publishers are running for cover. The game is being played on the terrain of business models and forms of collaboration between technological platforms and the publishing system: solutions are needed that safeguard both innovation and the sustainability of quality journalism.

The New York Times, for instance, recently signed an agreement with Amazon to authorise the use of its editorial content in training the e-commerce giant's artificial intelligence models. Other newspapers, such as The Atlantic, have instead chosen the path of direct collaboration with OpenAI, the ChatGPT developer.

Among the most interesting proposals is the 'Publishers' Program' model of Perplexity, an Ai search engine. The start-up in 2024 introduced a revenue sharing model with publishers: when its chatbot uses content from specific titles, a share of the advertising revenue is redistributed to the original authors.