Hey There!

With 4 typhoons making their exits, leaving Taiwan un-tampered, I can only say it’s a good start to the week. Hope the same to you all wherever you are!

We are introducing changes to Hungry Strategist’s “Let me handle it” section, with a new format that’s less templated and focuses more on sharing examples of actual results that you can come up with using the tool. Reply to this email to let me know if you want to learn more how to use each application, or have thoughts / feedback to the new format. Thanks!

TLDR

A Journey Through Tech Enthusiasm

It was the summer of 2000. I vividly remember typing into Google Search for the first time: “How do you get money to buy a can of Coke?” A can of Coke wasn’t exactly unaffordable, but it was a rare treat in my household—thanks to my parents’ belief (unlike Warren Buffett’s famous love for Coca-Cola) that sugary drinks weren’t the best choice for kids. And as much as I resisted back then, I’ve since come to agree with them.

This moment marked my introduction to the magical world of Google—a genie-like tool that promised answers to all my questions. It didn’t get me the Coke money, but it opened doors to something far more valuable: my first taste of technology. That moment left a lasting impression, shaping the path I’m on today.

I’ve always been an early adopter and advocate for Google products. Back when Yahoo reigned supreme in search, I was already exploring Google. I switched to Chrome when Firefox was the browser of choice and embraced my first HTC Android smartphone while classmates were still enthralled by playing Snake on feature phones.

Over the years, as Google’s suite of offerings grew to encompass almost every aspect of our digital lives, my enthusiasm faded slightly, overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of products. But today, my passion has been reignited by a pivotal moment in Google’s evolution: Search + AI, or as it’s being branded, AI Overview (AIO).

AI Overview: Redefining the Search Experience

Google’s AI Overview (AIO) introduces a transformative way of interacting with information. Departing from Google’s decades-long tradition of referencing sources and redirecting users to websites, AIO focuses on generating curated, synthesized answers drawn from diverse content sources. It marks a shift from the familiar "Just Google It" approach to a model resembling content publishing and curation.

Here are five key insights about AIO (as of now):

• Longer Queries, Deeper Answers: AIO thrives on conversational queries—those averaging 4+ words, often with clear informational intent. These differ from the shorter, navigational queries (2 words on average) dominating traditional searches. Users now ask nuanced questions and expect detailed, insightful answers.
  
  What this means? Marketers must optimize content to cater to question-based searches by providing comprehensive, in-depth explanations. As AIO evolves with ads, transaction-oriented queries may rise, potentially reshaping its usage.

• A Full-Feature Ecosystem: AIOs rarely appear in isolation. They are often accompanied by "People Also Ask" (80.92% of queries) and "Featured Snippets" (54.4%), among other elements. User-generated content, like "Discussions," is also frequently highlighted.
  
  What this means? This could be Google’s interim strategy to boost confidence in AIO results by surfacing content closer to its knowledge graph where the SERP features are derived from. Regardless, marketers need to embrace strategies that encourage user engagement and content creation, as this is obviously winning the future.

• Mobile Is Still King: Mobile devices dominate AIO-triggered traffic, accounting for 81% of visits—higher than traditional search’s 77%.
  
  What this means? Mobile optimization remains critical for visibility in both AI-driven and conventional search results.

• Old Way Still Works: While AIO draws heavily from web content, it often reduces direct traffic to publishers by presenting summarized answers on the search page. Some estimates suggest publisher traffic could decline by up to 50% by 2025.
  
  What this means? Marketers must shift focus toward audience-building strategies, such as newsletters, email lists, and social media communities, to maintain engagement. This trend is one of the reasons I launched a newsletter—a more reliable, direct connection to readers compared to unpredictable algorithms. If you have interest to explore the newsletter world with me, you can try it out here!

• Shifting Advertising Landscape: The emergence of ads within AIO represents a new frontier in search advertising.
  
  What this means? For marketers, this presents both an opportunity and a challenge. It's essential to understand how to effectively leverage these new ad formats and to track their performance (even though Google currently does not offer segmented reporting for ads in AIOs). Additionally, the emergence of subscription models for AI search engines like SearchGPT could potentially disrupt the traditional advertising-based model of search. (Though it’s worth noting that Perplexity is doing the opposite)

Google Doing What It’s Best At: Ads

Thoughts and questions:

• Google’s pace with AIO is unprecedented—monetizing the feature just 5 months after launch (compared to 19 months for YouTube Shorts). How will this shape user adoption and trust?

• Hallucinations remain a challenge across all generative AI platforms. Given Google’s brand as a reliable information provider, how will it address these concerns?

• Performance still is a question mark as the AIO ads are in a relatively lower position of the results page. How will marketers react to this new format?

The Ecosystem in Flux

AIO disrupts the delicate balance amongst publishers, users, and platforms:

• Publishers: “How will this impact my traffic and revenue if Google encapsulates my content?”

• Users: “Are these AI answers accurate and trustworthy?”

• Platforms: “We’re no longer just connecting users to sources; we’re in the content business now.”

As these shifts unfold, we’re witnessing a new chapter in the digital ecosystem.

🌊 Brace yourselves for the exciting waves of change!

Let me handle it

What is this?

HeyGen is an AI-powered video generation platform that creates realistic talking avatars for personalized, professional, and multilingual video content.

What can you use it for?

• Image to Video, where it animates an image to speak (like in the video below), or

• Video to Video, where AI will create a clone of you based on video recordings

Both can be used to create an avatar that you can place into videos.

Who else is using this?

rowancheung@, CEO of The Rundown — newsletter with 700K+ subs, and Varun Mayya with 680K+ subs on YouTube, both use this to add a human touch to their videos.

What’s the price?

Free and paid subscription plans; Monthly and yearly payments

Show me something cool using it

I created this video simply using Heygen + Elevenlabs (introduced in the previous edition). The scripts are derived from MIT’s Future You program.

What’s new in town

Food of Thought

Why so serious?