Dealing with those annoying AI-generated snippets on Google can be kinda frustrating, especially if you’re used to seeing straightforward links. Sure, Google’s trying to make search more “helpful” with AI Overviews, but sometimes it feels like they’re just cluttering the results and drowning out what’s actually relevant. Luckily, there are a few ways to get around this mess—whether you want a quick fix with extensions or a more permanent solution through customizing search parameters. The goal here is to tame that AI clutter and restore some sanity to your search results, making them more predictable and less…overbooked with summaries you didn’t ask for.
How to Block and Bypass Google AI Overviews
Method 1: Use Chrome or Firefox Extensions — The Easy Way
This is probably the simplest route if you don’t fancy messing around with search parameters. Extensions like Hide Google AI Overviews for Chrome or Firefox do exactly what they say—hide those summaries from your search results. The best part? It’s open source, so you get transparency. Once installed, they just quietly do their thing without any cluttered options or settings to fuss with. Just install, search, and watch the snippets vanish—like magic, or at least as close as you get with an extension. On some setups, it’s a little flaky the first time, but works fine after a quick restart or clearing cache.
Method 2: Using a Special URL Parameter to Force Classic Results
This one’s a bit more old school but kind of neat if you wanna go all technical. It involves adding a URL parameter to your Google searches that forces it to show only “classic” links without any AI summaries, ads, or other distractions. The magic parameter is &udm=14. When you append this to a Google search URL, it loads the plain, unadulterated links. Best part? You can set it up as a default in your browser so every search sticks to this “clean” view. No extensions needed, just some quick tweaks in your browser’s search settings.
How to Set It Up on Chrome
- Open Chrome, click the three dots, then go to Settings.
- Pick “Search engine”, then choose “Manage search engines and site search.”
- Hit “Add” for a new search engine setup.
- Fill out like this:
- Name: Google Web
- Shortcut: google.com (or anything easy to remember)
- URL: https://www.google.com/search?udm=14&q=%s
- Hit “Add”, then click the three dots next to your new entry and select “Make default.”
Doing the Same in Firefox
- Open Firefox, go to Settings.
- Navigate to the “Search” tab.
- In the “Search Shortcuts” section, hit “Add.”
- Enter:
- Name: Google Web
- Search URL: https://www.google.com/search?udm=14&q=%s
- Click “Add search engine”, then set it as your default if you like.
What About On Mobile?
This is where it gets kinda tricky. Mobile browsers don’t play nice with custom URL parameters quite as straightforward. But, a decent workaround is to create a custom search engine redirect using sites like tenbluelinks.org. It will redirect your searches straight to Google’s “Web” tab, bypassing AI snippets entirely. You can even add that shortcut to your home screen as an app, so whenever you want a cleaner search, just tap that. Not perfect, but it’s a decent workaround for now.
Wrap-up
All in all, whether you want to install a quick extension or tweak your search URLs, it’s totally doable to take back control of your Google searches. The key is just to pick what fits your setup best—extensions are easy, but URL tricks are more hands-on and less likely to break when Google updates things. On mobile, it’s a bit of a hack, but with the right shortcut, nothing’s stopping you from a clutter-free search experience.