That’s it, extensions for the Chrome browser designed to restore classic Google searches are here. They are developed in response to a new feature, AI Overviews, currently launched in the USA.
Google makes no secret of it: it is obsessed with artificial intelligence. During the 2024 edition of the I/O conference, the acronym AI was repeated dozens of times on stage. The American company presented various projects related to this sector, such as Veo for video or Astra for exchanges with a chatbot. And this caused a collateral “victim”: the former glory of the keynote, Android, was relegated to the background.
But the operating system is not the only one to be shaken up by AI: this is also the case for Google search. The Mountain View firm demonstrated a new feature called AI Overviews. His thing? Summarize the first page of query results using AI, with an insert. The sites are relegated lower.
The option, currently deployed in the United States after a year of testing, is not yet available in France. However, it has caused a lot of ink to flow on each side of the Atlantic, but also beyond. Indeed, AI Overviews is seen as the end of Google searches as we know them – and perhaps, in turn, of certain websites which will suffer from it.
Anti-AI Chrome Extensions Overviews
It is in this context that we are beginning to see initiatives such as that proposed by Avram Piltch, the editor-in-chief of the Tom’s Hardware site. “ Last night I created my own Chrome extension that blocks Google’s AI Overviews, discussion sections, shopping blocks, sponsored links, etc. », he wrote on May 18 on X.
This extension, available on the Chrome Web Store, is called Bye Bye, Google AI. She was treated to an article on Tom’s Hardware to explain its purpose and how to use it. According to the Chrome Web Store counter, it has been retrieved by just over 800 people, a very modest number.
However, it is not the only one that can be found on the Google browser add-ons store. For example, there is Hide Google AI Overviews, with 4,000 members. It is the most installed, according to our findings. There are others (Disable AI Overview, Turn Off AI Overview), but which are practically not used.
The ratings and reviews that can be found for Bye Bye google AI and Hide Google AI Overviews are very positive – which is not surprising coming from Internet users looking to eliminate these AI blocks. The maximum score is often given and everyone welcomes these initiatives. As it stands, only two negative reviews out of a few hundred have been seen.
Before the deployment of AI Overviews, a method provided by Google allows you to deactivate this functionality in principle. However, internet users had complained about not being able to do so or not finding the option. Others pointed out the questionable quality of the texts rendered by Overviews AI, with incorrect answers. There are many complaints on the Google forum.
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