{"id":557612,"date":"2026-03-22T19:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T19:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/557612\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T19:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T19:44:18","slug":"google-search-test-replaces-headlines-and-website-titles-with-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/557612\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Search test replaces headlines and website titles with AI"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\"\"<\/p>\n

Google Search has started testing the use of AI to replace headlines and website titles, a change that seems both unnecessary and a slippery slope.<\/p>\n

As spotted by The Verge<\/a> over the past \u201cfew months,\u201d Google Search has been altering some headlines of news articles when they appear in search results. The altered headlines, the publication says, were not written by their staffers, which raised eyebrows as to where the new headlines were coming from.<\/p>\n

Google confirmed that a \u201csmall\u201d experiment is changing both the headlines of articles as well as titles from \u201cother websites\u201d in search results using AI. Google added that the idea is to \u201cidentify content on a page that would be a useful and relevant title to a users\u2019 query\u201d while \u201cbetter matching titles to users\u2019 queries and facilitating engagement with web content.\u201d Apparently, if the experiment actually graduates to something that rolls out widely, it would not use generative AI, with Google saying that \u201cif we were to actually launch something based on this experiment, it would not be using a generative model and we would not be creating headlines with gen AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

Examples of this shared by The Verge include in story with the headline \u201cI used the \u2018cheat on everything\u2019 AI tool and it didn\u2019t help me cheat on anything<\/a>,\u201d which Google\u2019s AI simplified to \u201c\u201dCheat on everything\u201d AI tool.\u201d Another example was \u201cMicrosoft is rebranding Copilot in the most Microsoft way possible<\/a>,\u201d which Google changed to \u201cCopilot Changes: Marketing Teams at it Again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAdvertisement – scroll for more content<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s very common for articles to have an SEO title different from what the article shows \u2014 you\u2019ll see this on most 9to5Google articles \u2014 those are usually written by the author\/editorial team. Google will occasionally cut off pieces, but it\u2019s very abnormal for Search to just completely rewrite an entire headline on its own.<\/p>\n

As mentioned at the outset, it also seems completely unnecessary, and it ruins an important element of the web for publishers and site owners. If Google can just decide to show its own AI-generated title, it might completely misrepresent what\u2019s actually being published to the web. This is on top of the fact that Google Search is already driving less and less traffic to the web, and AI \u201csource\u201d links aren\u2019t making up for it either.<\/p>\n

Google Discover previously tested AI headline rewrites, something that has now widely rolled out<\/a> because they \u201c[perform] well for user satisfaction.\u201d While Google\u2019s supposed goal of \u201cbetter matching titles to users\u2019 queries\u201d might sound like a good idea at first, it almost defeats the purpose of the way Search works in the first place. <\/p>\n

What do you think of this behavior?<\/p>\n

More on Google Search:<\/p>\n

Follow Ben:\u00a0Twitter\/X<\/a>,\u00a0Threads<\/a>, Bluesky<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\t\"Add
\n\t\t\t\"Add
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\t\t\t\t