Erin Mullaney, Media Director
Courtney Marlow, Senior PR, Social Media & Influencer Marketing Manager

The potential TikTok ban is shaking up the short-form video landscape, leaving creators, marketers, and brands holding out hope or scrambling to explore alternative platforms. As TikTok’s highly engaged audience and creator-driven approach hang in the balance, many advertisers are making contingency plans. According to recent eMarketer reports, 50.2% of marketers plan to shift their TikTok investment to YouTube or Meta if the app is banned. How do all these platforms differ? Below is a synopsis of audiences, current platform environments and performance to take into consideration of where to invest your resources amidst the uncertainty. 

Audience: Who’s watching? 

Short-form video consumption is on the rise, with 63% of adults aged 18+ watching these videos on their smartphones, 55% of whom do so weekly¹. 

TikTok has undeniably fueled this trend, but it hasn’t yet surpassed longer-established platforms in adult audience reach. YouTube leads the way, engaging 63% of the adult population, closely followed by Facebook at 62%. Instagram captures 44%, while TikTok trails with a reach of 33%.

A18+ Reach by Platform²:

• YouTube: 63%
• Facebook: 62%
• Instagram: 44%
• TikTok: 33%

Sources:
¹A18+ Resonate – Jan 2025
²Average across MRI Simmons, Emarketer, and Resonate A18+ Penetration % 

The disparity in reach largely stems from generational engagement with each platform. TikTok has surpassed Facebook among adult Gen Z users and has been steadily approaching Instagram’s more mainstream appeal. Meanwhile, YouTube and Facebook, with their longer presence in the market, maintain broad reach across generations, particularly among Gen X and Boomers. In contrast, Instagram’s core audience skews heavily toward Millennials and Gen Z.

Source: eMarketer Platform Population Penetration, US 2024

Environments: How do they differ?

TikTok has become infamous for its ability to pull users into endless scrolling on their For You Page, delivering content that uncannily aligns with their current interests. As users potentially move away from TikTok, they’ll likely seek similar entertainment on other platforms. This means these platforms will need to bridge the content gap, with their current areas of focus and user experiences outlined below.

YouTube 

YouTube stands out as a platform with the broadest reach across age groups, making it a versatile choice for connecting with diverse audiences. With its integration into Google’s ecosystem, YouTube leverages extensive search data, allowing content, organic or paid, to reach users with precision and intent. While long-form horizontal videos remain prominent, YouTube Shorts, introduced as of 2021 in the U.S., represents a significant evolution. Shorts are increasingly featured in search results, offering users the flexibility to consume shorter, bite-sized content. The platform’s dual focus on search-driven discovery and content variety makes it a powerful tool for brands and creators alike.

Instagram & Facebook 

Instagram Reels is integrated into the Instagram app, where users can seamlessly transition from their feed to a TikTok-like Reels experience. While trends on Reels tend to be slightly delayed from TikTok, Instagram has evolved from a personal “highlight reel” to a discovery-focused platform, offering content tailored to user interests. Similarly, Facebook Reels appear in users’ feeds, and once clicked, users enter the Reels feed. Facebook is also pushing Reels content in an effort to drive more engagement on its platform.

Time Spent

The most significant distinction between TikTok and other platforms lies in user engagement time. TikTok’s finely tuned algorithm captivates users for an average of 51 minutes daily, far outpacing other platforms. By comparison, YouTube users spend an average of 36 minutes per day, Instagram users 35 minutes, and Facebook users 32 minutes¹. With potentially freed-up consumption time following the potential TikTok ban, it will be interesting to see if consumer behaviors shift—and whether one platform, through user preference or ongoing updates to enhance engagement, begins to close the gap.

¹Source: eMarketer Time Spent, US 2024

Performance: What Are They Good At?

While the activity of scrolling through short-form videos is similar across platforms, performance in the paid advertising space varies. Across campaigns, a few trends have emerged. YouTube Shorts is the most cost-efficient in terms of CPM, likely due to slower adoption and lower advertiser demand since rolling out Short-specific paid ads in late 2023. However, it falls behind Meta Reels and TikTok in average watch time.

TikTok strikes an impressive balance, offering the highest CTR, lowest CPC, and moderate costs, while maintaining competitive video watch times. Meta platforms (Instagram and Facebook) deliver slightly lower action metrics but benefit from marginally higher average watch times.

For conversion campaigns, Meta Reels appears to be the better alternative, while YouTube Shorts is ideal for cost-effective reach. If advertisers reallocate budgets amidst the TikTok uncertainty, Meta is predicted to see more reallocation dollars and thus increased competition. Therefore YouTube Shorts could remain a cost-efficient alternative.

Final Thoughts

As the potential TikTok ban looms, it’s important for brands and marketers to adapt by exploring alternative platforms, encompassing both organic and paid social strategies, as well as influencer marketing. Each platform offers nuances and unique advantages, and TikTok’s dominance in entertainment will undoubtedly be missed. However, with engaged and diverse audiences spread across multiple platforms, there are ample opportunities to evolve your strategy and connect with users where they are now—and where they’re headed in the near future.

Michele Hart-Henry, Managing Director, Connelly Partners Health

In this time of predictions, prognostications and resolutions, we reviewed a few healthcare engagement trends we expect to see more of in 2025 and beyond. These trends are presented in no particular order. Nor are they ranked in importance. Instead, it’s a semi-random list of the things we find interesting in today’s healthcare marketplace. Critically, though, all the research and articles we read to compile this list were woefully short on insight into consumer response to any of these developments. Therefore, because healthcare, at its core, is inherently about humans, we’ve added our thoughts about consumer acceptance of these predictions based on their current or anticipated behaviors. 

Convenience-Driven Strategic Partnerships

In Brief: Partnerships between healthcare providers and technology companies merge clinical expertise with innovative solutions, streamlining patient care and improving accessibility.

Examples: Amazon’s One Medical partnership with Cleveland Clinic demonstrates how collaborations simplify healthcare delivery. Through Amazon’s ecosystem, patients benefit from integrated appointment scheduling, 24/7 telehealth services, and medication reminders. Similarly, ride-app company Lyft is partnering with health systems through Lyft Healthcare to improve access to care by providing free or low-cost rides to those who may have transportation issues that interfere with their ability to access needed care.

Consumer Response: According to research by McKinsey and others, convenience significantly influences consumers’ health choices. Factors like location, accessibility, appointment scheduling ease, waiting times, and access to care without disrupting their daily routines rank high in patient satisfaction scores. Patients appreciate the convenience and comprehensive care these partnerships provide. Integrating health services into platforms they use daily, like Amazon or Lyft, makes healthcare more accessible and user-friendly.

Future: More collaborations that create ease, convenience, and accessibility will likely occur, such as between wearable tech companies like Fitbit and hospitals, enabling real-time health monitoring and preventive care programs. Or Apple and its Smartwatch collaborations with research initiatives and institutions.

AI-Driven Information Delivery

In Brief: AI is transforming healthcare by delivering personalized, timely information to patients, improving engagement and satisfaction.

Examples: NHS Scotland is trialing an AI-powered physiotherapist named Kirsty to address back pain and reduce wait times. Patients receive same-day virtual appointments and personalized care plans via a mobile app. In the US, organizations like Buoy Health use AI-powered tools to help assess symptoms, while Mayo Clinic uses an AI chatbot to provide accurate, personalized information about conditions and treatments based on user queries. For example, if someone asks about managing diabetes, it might give meal-planning tips, glucose-monitoring advice, and links to clinical guidelines. Lirio, a Tennessee-based behavior change management company, uses AI-powered tools to deliver personalized “nudges” to promote positive health behaviors.

Consumer Response: While many patients value the efficiency and accessibility of AI tools, they remain cautious about their accuracy and the lack of human interaction. Kirsty’s initial reception highlights appreciation for prompt care, though long-term success depends on user experience and outcomes. Perceptions of AI chatbots vary based on age, education level, and familiarity with technology, affecting acceptance and trust levels.

Future: AI could evolve into real-time health coaching tools, for example, alerting diabetic patients about glucose level trends or providing preventive care insights based on wearable data. AI chatbots in healthcare offer promising benefits in personalization, accessibility and patient engagement; however, addressing concerns related to trust, empathy, and data security is crucial for broader acceptance and effective utilization.

Omnichannel Patient Connection

In Brief: As noted above, convenience and choice are the hallmarks of healthcare consumerism. Engaging patients through multiple platforms – of their choosing – ensures consistent communication and fosters stronger relationships throughout their healthcare journey.

Examples: Kaiser Permanente integrates mobile apps, email, telemedicine portals, and in-person visits to provide a seamless patient experience. Beyond EPIC or other EMR-based portals, empowering omnichannel tools such as Canada’s Telus Health’s Home Health Monitoring (HHM) enable patients to monitor their health metrics at home and share this information electronically with their healthcare providers. This facilitates proactive care management and potentially creates positive behavior management among health consumers. 

Consumer Response: Patients value the flexibility to choose their preferred communication channels. This approach increases satisfaction and loyalty by meeting patients where they are, both physically and digitally. Moreover, as these tools evolve to support health consumerism and positive behavior change, satisfaction with and loyalty to their providers will only increase. 

Future: In addition to currently available channels, healthcare providers will continue to incorporate Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) into their consultations and behavior change programs or deploy customized wearable notifications to create even more engaging and personalized experiences.

Consumerism in healthcare isn’t new; however, health organizations must continue to evolve in addressing the demand for care and communicating on consumers’ terms, meeting them where, how, and when they want to be met.

Anthony Quagliata, Search Marketing Manager

In 2021, Google changed the search landscape by introducing an AI-driven campaign called Performance Max. It would aim to use AI to optimize and deliver ads based on a range of signals. These signals include locations, budgets, search themes, audience intent, and historical performance, allowing Performance Max to be a tool for advertisers that aims for a broader reach beyond traditional search. Performance Max differs from traditional search in its ability to optimize ad placement across multiple inventories rather than focusing solely on keywords and more manual optimizations that land on search engine result pages (SERP). Those inventories include Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail, and Maps.

Performance Max leverages signals and AI, making it an excellent choice for advertisers looking for an easy, all-in-one campaign solution. Given this campaign’s automation, it can allow for more efficient campaign management, allowing more time for strategic decision-making and other optimizations. Additionally, it can be a powerful tool due to its ability to span across different inventories away from the SERP. It allows advertisers to reach consumers at various parts of their journey, from visual results like video to the SERP.

While it is a powerful tool that can act as a great multitouch point conversion driver, it was not met without question during its initial launch. At first, many advertisers considered it a black box because of its limited control and insights. Since then, Performance Max has undergone several updates that have improved its capabilities, making it a better tool for digital marketers. Those updates have included enhanced asset optimization, reporting and audience signal updates, and performance insights.

Despite the changes Performance Max has undergone, it may still not be the best solution for all advertisers. It typically performs best when an advertiser sets the campaign up with a clear goal, such as driving conversions. It also may not be the best fit for an advertiser who does not have vast creatives and needs significant control over a campaign, such as using specifically selected keywords and ad copy instead of signals and various ad formats. Additionally, Performance Max may not always capture every query that a traditional search campaign targeting keywords with specific intent would. For example, an advertiser may use a traditional search campaign with carefully selected keywords based on intent and match type to ensure ads serve people with specific focuses. On the automated side, Performance Max would use AI to decipher consumer behavior based on different factors like signals and the pages used, so it may not pick up specific search queries. 

Advertisers with clear goals who wants to take advantage of automation and manual targeting should consider using Performance Max to complement traditional paid search, as Google suggests, not as a replacement. 

When used together, the two campaign types offer a full-funnel approach, allowing advertisers to reach consumers at every part of the consumer journey. While Performance Max can reach consumers at the right parts of the user journey, traditional search ensures captured demand when consumers get further down the funnel with specific searches. A traditional search campaign setup allows for a more hands-on combination of keywords, ad copy, and landing pages that can cover a particular consumer intent instead of signals and AI that Performance Max may not always pick up. Inversely, running a traditional search campaign without leveraging Performance Max could result in missing out on reaching relevant consumers and building awareness through inventory like YouTube or Display.

As Google adjusts its campaigns, solutions like Performance Max that leverage AI across Google’s different inventories will continue to be crucial for success. While these AI-leveraged campaigns can be significant and provide substantial automation and scale, it is essential to remember they effectively complement traditional search rather than replace it. Combining the two allows advertisers to maximize their reach across Google while filling gaps with strategically selected keywords that Performance Max may not cover—truly offering the best of both worlds in automation and manual campaigns to ensure a full-funnel approach to the consumer journey.

Karla Whelan, Senior Account Manager

From the moment I opened the email confirming my selection for the 2024 Female Futures Fund Programme, I felt like my heart skipped a beat. To say I was thrilled would be an understatement—I was absolutely elated! The thought of the incredible journey ahead, the inspiring women I’d meet, and the transformative opportunities this programme promised left me buzzing with anticipation.

In what felt like no time at all, I was walking into our first session, surrounded by 25 extraordinary women from across the advertising, media, and communications industries. From the very beginning, it was clear this wasn’t just another leadership program—it was an experience meticulously crafted to empower and inspire women at every level of their careers.

Each session focused on themes central to Women in Leadership, offering insights that felt as practical as they were profound. We explored everything from discovering our unique leadership styles to tackling challenges that disproportionately affect women in our field. What made it truly impactful was how tailored every session was to our real-world experiences. This wasn’t abstract theory—it was actionable advice, strategies, and wisdom I could implement immediately.

The peer mentorship throughout the programme was one of its most rewarding aspects. We didn’t just learn from the experts; we learned so much from each other. Every conversation with these talented, driven women was an opportunity to gain fresh perspectives and honest advice. There’s something so powerful about connecting with people who truly understand your journey because they’re on their own. It wasn’t just about building a network—it felt like building a safety net of encouragement, ideas, and inspiration.

What I appreciated most was the programme’s emphasis on vulnerability. Leadership can often feel like relentless pressure to have all the answers. Yet, this programme showed us that it’s okay not to know everything, ask for help, and navigate uncertainty gracefully. Embracing vulnerability became a strength, not a weakness, and that lesson will stay with me forever.

Hearing from women like Charley Stoney, CEO of IAPI, and our very own Vaunnie McDermott was nothing short of transformative. Their stories along with our other speakers were woven with authenticity and wisdom, resonated deeply—not just with me, but with every woman in the programme. They reminded us of the importance of balance, ambition, and staying true to ourselves as we navigate our personal and professional journeys.

If you’re considering applying for the Female Futures Fund Programme, let me offer this simple advice: do it. It’s a decision you won’t regret. And a heartfelt thank you to Connelly Partners for nominating me for this incredible opportunity. It’s an experience that has left a mark on me, one I’ll carry with me throughout my career and beyond.

Women’s sports are surging in popularity, yet the coverage continues to fall short. Women only get 8% of U.S. sports coverage. We set out to narrow the visibility gap for female athletes by changing the way we cover women’s sports, in partnership with the USGA and Brae Burn Country Club.

When we learned the USGA’s Women’s Mid-Amateur tournament was coming to Brae Burn Country Club, one of the toughest courses in the country, we had one question: how do we get these women the coverage they deserve?

The event had never been televised, and we recognized the need for a new storytelling approach—one that captures the unique female narratives. Research revealed that social media is crucial for boosting fan engagement and increasing visibility for women’s sports.

We launched the “Let’s Shoot Their Shot” campaign. Using social media to turn spectators into storytellers, we rallied a community of attendees, content creators, and fans to post coverage from their own accounts.

We showcased the incredible golf – and also narratives around pregnant and postpartum golfers, matching outfits, the 9-5s these women work outside the sport, and more.

Our digital hub became a gathering place for all content, offering the world a chance to experience the Mid-Am championship & these athletes in a whole new way.

Gene Begin, Managing Director, CP Education
Alyssa Stevens, Global Director of PR, Social Media & Influencer Marketing
Erin Mullaney, Media Director

The American Marketing Association’s (AMA) Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education recently brought together more than 1,800 attendees from colleges, universities and higher education partners, the largest gathering in the history of the event AND the largest-ever symposium event for AMA, no matter the industry. 

The conference highlighted the importance of understanding people—especially the varied mix of higher education stakeholders—and the ways in which inclusivity, authenticity, and personalization are shaping higher education marketing. Here’s four themes we gathered from the insights shared.

Put People at the Center of Your Marketing: From Storytelling to Crisis Management

At the heart of the AMA Higher Ed conference was a call to center “people” in all aspects of marketing. This theme was underscored by nearly every keynote speaker. Whether discussing student-centered creative, generational differences, storytelling or crisis management, having a people-first mindset to your marketing and communications was paramount.

Keynote speaker Steve Robbins challenged the audience to rethink inclusion and recognize that our brains are wired to seek belonging. Our brain desires two things: to be part of a tribe and to be valued by that tribe. Yet, we also struggle when it comes to embracing difference. This makes inclusion a deliberate effort—especially in the context of higher education marketing where diverse student populations demand more than token gestures of representation.

Inclusion can’t be just a buzzword—it requires intentional action, thoughtful representation, and commitment to fostering a sense of belonging for all audiences. After last year’s Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, intentional inclusion marketing strategies are even more important than ever.

Authenticity, Trust and the Power of the Messenger

A significant portion of the event focused on the evolving expectations of Gen Z and Gen Alpha—two generations that are shaping higher education. 

“The messenger matters” was not only a great session led by Jeremy Tiers from Tudor Collegiate Strategies and Brian Piper from the University Rochester, but it was also a recurring theme throughout the conference. It’s no longer enough to create great content—you also need to think about who is delivering that content and how they resonate with your target audience.  Considering prospective students often are creators themselves, they are increasingly turning to social media influencers and content creators as their trusted sources for information due to the authenticity of their message.

This need is exacerbated by the general distrust these generations have in established organizations. This skepticism even extends to established digital platforms. YouTube and TikTok have overtaken Google as the preferred search tool for these generations, despite Google’s 88% share of search engine advertising. YouTube is also eating into the podcast space of Apple and Spotify due to video becoming a more preferred modality for podcast viewing.

Additionally, personalization is an important strategy to gain trust and show prospective audiences you are authentically trying to build a relationship with them. While only 18% of students believe higher ed’s communications feel personalized (per Tudor Collegiate Studies research), one college they worked with tested the impact of personalized, one-on-one counselor interactions and saw the likelihood of enrollment increase by 2.8 times. This kind of personalization can be a game-changer for colleges looking to convert prospects and applicants into enrolled students.

This session also made me think more deeply about what “feel” means when prospective students say that “it just felt right” when being asked why they chose a particular institution after a campus visit. More likely than not, that “feel” was generated by human interactions with the community. And research from the Edelman Trust Barometer confirmed that humans are the most trusted source of information, not a surprise considering word-of-mouth is still the most successful marketing tactic of all-time! 

Institutions that prioritize human connection—whether through counselors, faculty, parents and families, or peer networks—will gain a competitive edge in this era of distrust. With search intent and authentic messaging preferred on social channels, higher ed marketers need to shift their approach to prioritize these channels. If you want to stand out, use influencers who feel authentic and relatable, and focus on building personalized experiences that demonstrate a genuine investment in student success. 

Reframing Marketing for a Low-Trust World

In addition to influencer marketing in education, sessions explored other strategies for succeeding in a low-trust world. In a time when misinformation runs rampant, higher education marketers need to embrace “non-obvious thinking,” as coined by keynote speaker Rohit Bhargava. A few of his standout recommendations included:

• Stand for something – Develop a clear institutional identity and mission, and tell that story consistently.
• Embrace the conversation – Engage in two-way dialogue with prospective students and families. Marketers need to be listeners as much as they are speakers.
• Expand your audience – Diversify your approach to recruitment, focusing not just on traditional high school students but also on adult learners, international students, and underrepresented groups.

To break through the noise, higher ed institutions need to differentiate and be bold in standing for values and missions that resonate with the students they seek to enroll. The sheer volume of tuition increases and the increased competition for students has made differentiation more critical than ever. In the last 18 years, tuition industry-wide has skyrocketed by 506%, and yet many institutions still rely on the same tired marketing tactics based on geography, demographics, or selectivity.

VIV Higher Education led a session with great recommendations on the digital advertising front. They suggested your targeting strategies should aim to connect with students who are similar to those who already enrolled—focusing 80% on list-based targeting efforts and reserving 20% for experimenting with new audiences. Additionally, institutions must consider the full funnel of recruitment, allocating marketing budgets across awareness, recruitment, and advocacy stages.

They typically recommend 10-30% of budget in awareness, 60-80% in recruitment and 10% in advocacy.

With the long decision cycles for both undergraduate and graduate prospective students, creating awareness and nurturing long-term relationships is essential, so we would recommend the higher end of those awareness budget percentages. Additionally, every graduate program is unique, so whether using an area-of-study cluster strategy or a priority-program advertising approach, tailoring it to your specific university’s portfolio is important.

Summary

As higher education marketers, the time has come to embrace a people-first approach, grounded in authenticity, personalization, and inclusivity. The changing landscape requires a shift from traditional, one-size-fits-all marketing tactics to a more nuanced, human-centered strategy that resonates with today’s diverse audiences and skeptical, value-first populations. By incorporating some of these insights from AMA, institutions can build stronger connections with prospective students and position themselves for success in an increasingly competitive market.

Gene Begin, Managing Director, CP Education

Colleges, universities, and education organizations have a world of opportunity leveraging their advocates and turning them into influencers.

Utilizing the loyalty loop of a consumer decision journey can be one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies in any organization, let alone education. Advocacy drives awareness and influence and while this can happen within a variety of channels, advocacy is most prominent within social media. Social sharing is the online adaptation of the most successful marketing strategy in the history of humankind – word of mouth. 

Just think about how often you gather recommendations from your family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances, whether online or in person. That advocacy absolutely shapes your decision-making. 

Educational organizations should be taking advantage of this with their built-in community of advocates – employees, current students, board members, alumni, and even admitted students. This network is full of individuals with influence in multiple industries and audience segments. 

But in today’s creator economy, advocacy marketing for many organizations is not enough. Individuals within our networks have seen influencer marketing become part of the norm with their social feeds and they now understand how to take advantage of and monetize that sphere of influence. Even my pre-teens understand there are ways to monetize social content as they have seen their older cousin be successful in doing so in her career. Do not hesitate to budget and pay for advocacy and content creation. It should be an essential part of your integrated marketing strategy.

And remember, while our advocate networks in education are large and primed to be tapped into for influence, size doesn’t always matter when it comes to an individual’s network. Some of the most effective spheres of influence can be smaller, yet very committed and engaged. Community engagement really can be about the quality and not the quantity when it comes to activating a network. 

Influencer marketing truly harnesses the power and the authenticity of the human voice to impact brand perception and brand engagement. But identifying your target audience and evaluating the influencer’s following as a match is crucial. 

Our Global Director of PR, Social Media and Influencer Marketing Alyssa Stevens recently moderated an influencer marketing panel at the American Marketing Association’s Symposium for Higher Education. Below is a copy of that panel’s presentation, and if you want a partner on your influencer efforts, don’t hesitate to reach out. Our Influencer Marketing team helps activate the right influencers for your organization to build strategies that foster trust and leverage the strength of the human connection.

Why She Holds the Key to Your Benefits Plan’s Success

Women are increasingly leading the charge in health decisions, from managing doctor’s appointments to making choices that affect their family’s overall well-being. As this year’s enrollment season kicks off, we’re taking a look at these women, who serve as the Chief Family Health Officer (CFHO) – the powerhouse behind the success of your benefits plan.

Sam Coons, Copywriter 

Last Thursday, I joined a handful of CPers who attended the 63rd annual Hatch Awards, hosted at Big Night Live. Connelly Partners had a great showing, taking home a collection of 15 awards, including 5 Golds. But just as important, we took home a few insights on the common threads amongst the winning work. 

The main takeaway wasn’t a huge surprise this year. Consumers just want to have fun. But not just any fun. Simple fun. The overwhelming majority of winning work had not only that ever-important “big idea” to it, but nothing felt like it was beaten to death by committee. Work ranging from clients like Progressive, to Bowery Farms, to Valvoline were all as easy to laugh at as they were to digest. And while we always look to move people emotionally in our work, we just can’t forget that bringing a little levity to someone’s day by making them chuckle at a silly joke or gasp at an incredible visual is still doing exactly that.

Our own winning work this year understood this, with simple, fun campaigns for clients like Boston Pride for the People, 123.ie, and Kayem. We couldn’t be more pumped for these wins!

As we shuffled out of the venue to celebrate before shifting into full gear for 2025, two words were repeated amongst us as an unofficial mantra for the year ahead. “Do less.” You just might win more that way.

Find the full list of winners here.

Scott Freeman, SEO Manager
Anthony Quagliata, Paid Search Manager

Google’s AI Overview feature has drawn quite a reaction from the world of organic and paid search experts, but is it an innovative step forward, or is it simply Google trying to stay afloat in the fast-evolving AI race? As this feature continues to roll out across search results, many wonder if it’s a game changer or just hype.

What Exactly Is Google’s AI Overview?

In a nutshell, the AI Overview feature generates a succinct summary based on AI’s understanding of your search query. Instead of having users click through multiple search results, they are presented with a synthesized snapshot of relevant information at the very top of their search, theoretically offering faster and more accurate answers. Google touts it as a way to enhance user experience, making search more intuitive and less time-consuming.

How Often Is the AI Overview Showing Up in Search?

Many are curious how often they’ll encounter these AI Overviews, and research shows they now appear in 3.9% of trending news searches — a relatively small, but growing percentage. The potential for expansion is huge, though, as the feature is still being tested and improved. For example, some reports show that Google AI Overview results have been showing up in 80% of searches for high-profile news events, signaling that the tech giant is serious about this AI integration.

How Does This Impact SEO?

The real elephant in the room is how this new feature affects SEO. Will it boost traffic to your site or steal it away? The answer is complicated and murky. On one side, AI Overviews give users faster answers, potentially leading to lower click-through rates (CTR) for organic results. Some SEO experts are already sounding alarms, saying AI summaries could reduce visibility for traditional SEO and that organic results may be less prioritized. Initial tests have shown the AI Overview could lead to organic traffic decreases anywhere from 18-64% for some websites, especially for informational-type queries.

On the other hand, some SEOs see this as an opportunity. For example, content optimization for AI-driven summaries might become the next big thing, with SEO professionals looking to adjust their tactics. If AI Overviews are prioritizing concise, well-structured content, there’s room to optimize accordingly and stay relevant. With detailed analytics reporting, SEOs can gather relevant information on user behavior and engagement within the search engine results page itself. With that insight, SEOs can begin to hone their strategies and use the AI Overview to their advantage. 

How Does This Impact Paid Search?

Google’s AI Overview has already impacted paid search results in ways that are hard to ignore. As consumers have begun exploring this feature, there has been a significant rise in search traffic on Google. However, much like organic, a decline in paid search click-through rate has been observed since most people need to click through to ad listings rather than explore the summary the AI Overview provides. 

Another notable finding is a year-over-year rise in CPC (cost per click) as click volume has declined for advertisers. While CPC increases can also be linked to increased ad prices for companies to meet targets, it is hard to imagine they will come back down as Google continues to alter where ads show around the AI Overview. Considering they’ve talked about returning top placements above the Overview, it likely signals that CPC will continue to rise. Also, as recent as the beginning of October 2024, ads were introduced into AI Overview for mobile users and will likely become an increasingly competitive placement for competitors. 

What’s Next for AI in Search?

So, is this indeed the future of search? Google is banking on AI, but whether the feature is here to stay depends on how it adapts to user behavior. With 57% of users reporting positive experiences with AI in search results, the technology seems to be resonating with many. But at the same time, only 23% of users say they fully trust AI-generated results, leaving a lot of room for growth — and skepticism.

At the end of the day, Google’s AI Overview feature has the potential to reshape how we search and how marketing professionals do their jobs, but it’s still too early to tell if it will revolutionize the experience or simply be a flash in the pan. As AI continues to evolve, monitoring how these changes impact SEO, paid search, user trust, and the broader digital landscape is crucial.