Google AI Overviews arrives in France !

Yes, you read that correctly. And no, the title is not there to make sensational. Google AI Overviews soon arrive in France.

I have no official source to wield : nothing has been announced publicly, and nothing is confirmed by Google.

But it whispers. It circulates. And, in the ecosystem SEO, when everybody starts to reach the ear in the same direction… it is rarely for anything.

Google AI Overviews what is it ?

To recall, Google AI Overviews, this is the new layer of AI from Google that generates answers directly in the page results(SERP).

I explain the concept in detail in my article where I come back on the accurate operation of Google AI Overviews. I speak also of their impact on impressions, traffic, CTR etc  for the ecosystem in the SEO.

And if you want to go further, I also exposes the genesis of AI Overviews first called EMS, and then Gemini EMS, before becoming’VE Overviews that you know today.

Why does Google HAVE Overviews does not happen in France ?

Google explains that the AI Overviews are not available in France because of’ legal uncertainty ‘.

But when we look at the context, we can see very quickly what the company seeks to avoid : neighboring rights.

In France, Google has to pay for the media as soon as it uses their content, titles, images, clips, anything goes.

And I Overviews, by nature, are a machine to synthesize information from everywhere… press included.

In other words : each response generated could potentially trigger an invoice. And, after several fines record, Google clearly does not want to put the coin in the machine.

The company Mountain View would therefore prefer to procrastinate, to negotiate, to calm the game with the French publishers.

And it’s the beginning of the whispers : in the small world of SEO, many claim that the AI Overviews arrive “soon”. Some swear that it is imminent 🔽

Google AI Overviews in Europe

Google AI Overviews is available, among others, in the following countries :

• Austria (German and English)
• Belgium (English)
• Germany (German and English)
• Ireland (English)
• Italy (Italian and English)
• Poland (Polish and English)
• Portugal (Portuguese and English)
• Spain (Spanish and English)
• Switzerland (French, German, and Italian, English)

You understood it : it’s available everywhere… except in France.

I understand the French position, really. But what a mess for the SEO local, condemned to watch other people get ahead while they wait.

After… that, that is another debate.

Google AI Overviews in the rest of the world

At the moment I write these lines, Google AI Overviews is already available in more than 200 countries and 40 languages ! Not bad as a deployment, I grant you, Google.

How to try Google AI Overviews in France ?

If you want, you can always take your suitcase and spend a week in Barcelona : here, HAVE Overviews are already available… and you’ll get as a bonus the sun.

More seriously, the simplest is to use a VPN to test the service from France. Personally, I use Urban VPN, it’s free and it’s been the case.

What is my return after use of AI Overviews ?

My side SEO is a little less enthusiastic… I’ve already talked about the destabilising effect of this technology, and it is still at the very beginning.

The icing on the cake : Google has confirmed that the IA Mode, the same technology, but in a more conversational style will soon become the solution search by default on the engine. Not disturbing at all… 😅