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How to turn off Google’s AI Overviews—and reclaim search sanity
Online information access has become a dichotomy: easier due to AI, yet more inaccurate. AI chatbots and Google's "AI Overview" frequently provide incorrect information, with error rates as high as 50% for niche topics. Fortunately, a powerful workaround exists to bypass these AI-generated inaccuracies and revert to traditional, pure web searches. This method allows users to remove AI Overviews, shopping boxes, info boxes, and other distractions from search results. One simple way is to use the UDM14 website, which automatically applies the necessary code to Google searches. Alternatively, users can manually select "Web" from the search result types on smartphones or computers. Adding "&udm=14" to the end of a Google search URL also achieves this. For advanced users, a custom browser search engine can be configured to automatically include this parameter. UDM14 is a free, untracked, and installation-free website, offering a minimalist Google search experience. This workaround provides a clutter-free, AI-free search experience, restoring accuracy and simplicity to online information retrieval.