What do we know about when Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) will launch?

April 20, 2024

Google is yet to announce a date for when it will ‘fully’ launch Search Generative Experience (SGE).

Small subsets in the US are being used to test SGE but Google has not yet announced when it will roll out to all searchers across the globe.

What is Search Generative Experience (SGE)?

Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) is a new search experience developed by Google that proves AI-powered ‘snippets’ with summaries in response to search queries, rather than just displaying a list of links.

It uses AI and generative models to provide more interactive and contextual search results.

In short, SGE provides answers to users’ queries without the need to click a link and visit a website.

An example of a SGE overview from Google for the query ‘What’s better for a family with kids under 3 and a dog, Bryce Canyon or Arches National Park?

Could SGE roll out on May 14?

There are some rumours circulating online that Google may launch SGE (at least in the US) on May 14 – at Google’s I/O keynote address.

Google’s I/O keynote is the tech giant’s biggest event of the year where they announce new hardware, software, and services to the public.

TRAFCK believe it makes sense for Google to roll out SGE on May 14.

Google initially set a date to launch SGE in December 2023, but that deadline was quietly removed.

What will SGE look like?

SGE, if rolled out in its entirety for every search query, could cost Google over $200 billion in advertising revenue.

In 2023, Google made $237.86 billion from adverts on the search engine results pages so rolling out a version of SGE that doesn’t substantially impact their revenue will be at the top of their priority list.

TRAFCK believe Google will launch AI overviews on search queries that don’t contain adverts.

It’s also highly probable that Google won’t show AI overviews for queries that are political or sensitive in nature.

Will users be able to opt-out?

A selected subset of users who have been given access to SGE outside of the Google Labs experiment have not been able to opt out of being shown AI overviews.

Rightly, there’s lots of concern about the launch of SGE.

SGE will reduce the amount of organic search traffic websites drive.

TRAFCK has developed a series of effective strategies to counteract the drop in traffic for websites that produce content.

Contact us at hi@trafck.co.uk for more information on how we can help future proof your website.