Google has handed publishers a shiny new AI dashboard and an opt-out button almost no one can afford to press. Plus, dispatches from the World News Media Congress. 🇫🇷🍷☀️
The impressions-without-clicks problem you're describing for publishers is hitting ecommerce product pages in exactly the same way — we're seeing retailers get significant AI Mode impressions in the new GSC report for product-specific queries, but the click-through data is either absent or shows steep declines compared to traditional Shopping results. The opt-out dilemma is even sharper for retailers: pulling your product listings from AI features means handing that consideration phase to a competitor whose Merchant Center feed is better structured. The real leverage isn't in the opt-out — it's in feed completeness and schema quality, which remain the best signals Google has for deciding which products to surface in AI-generated responses.
The impressions-without-clicks problem you're describing for publishers is hitting ecommerce product pages in exactly the same way — we're seeing retailers get significant AI Mode impressions in the new GSC report for product-specific queries, but the click-through data is either absent or shows steep declines compared to traditional Shopping results. The opt-out dilemma is even sharper for retailers: pulling your product listings from AI features means handing that consideration phase to a competitor whose Merchant Center feed is better structured. The real leverage isn't in the opt-out — it's in feed completeness and schema quality, which remain the best signals Google has for deciding which products to surface in AI-generated responses.
Nicely put Victor and agreed , feed completeness is a key factor now for visibility!