Google has introduced AI-generated summaries in its search results—known as AI Overviews—which often pull your content into a snippet that may generate traffic away from your site. While it seems like a "feature," these summaries force site owners into a no-win choice between giving up control or visibility—arguably a dark pattern tactic by Google.

To make matters worse, while there are regulatory investigations underway in the EU and UK striving to hold Google accountable, there’s still no good workaround for publishers.

1. Set Snippet Length to Zero with max-snippet:0 (Recommended… If You Have No Other Choice)

<meta name="robots" content="max-snippet:0">

This prevents all snippets—regular and AI—from appearing under your search result. You're left with a listing showing only the title and URL, which can significantly decrease click-through rate (CTR). It's a blunt instrument, but until there's a better option, it's the most effective.

2. Block All Summaries with nosnippet

<meta name="robots" content="nosnippet">

Identical in effect to max-snippet:0: completely strips your search listing of any description or summary. It prevents AI summaries, but again, it leaves your listing bare and unappealing.

3. Exclude Specific Sections with data-nosnippet

<span data-nosnippet>
        This part won’t appear in snippets or AI summaries.
</span>

This offers more selective control, but Google may still piece together other text for its summaries, so it’s far from foolproof.

4. User-Side Workarounds (Only Affect You)

If you, as a searcher, want to avoid AI Overviews:

• Opt out of Search Labs: Logged-in users can toggle off "AI Overviews and more." But this only affects your account, not how your site appears to others.
• Custom search or URL modifiers: Use &udm=14, -AR, or -noai in your query.
• Browser Extensions: Tools like Bye Bye Google AI exist, but they break when Google updates.
• Reddit Hack: Some users suggested adding a curse word to bypass AI Overviews. Obviously, this is not a serious or practical solution, but it shows how desperate people are to find workarounds.

On iOS, your options are even more limited — you can toggle Show Gemini in the Google app, switch to the Web tab manually, or try alternative browsers like Safari or DuckDuckGo.

5. Regulatory Hope: EU & UK Are Investigating

Europe

A coalition of independent publishers—including the Independent Publishers Alliance, Movement for an Open Web, and Foxglove Legal—has filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission. They argue that Google’s AI Overviews misuse content, divert traffic, and deny publishers a fair opt-out. They’re pushing for interim measures to prevent further damage (Reuters, New York Post).

United Kingdom

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating Google’s AI Overviews for potentially stifling competition and harming publishers. They are considering measures like mandatory attribution, traffic-sharing requirements, and limits on Google’s self-preferencing (vktr.com).

The Problem: A Dark Pattern That Punishes Publishers

• Publishers are trapped: If they don’t block snippets, AI extracts their content and may siphon traffic; if they do block them, their own visibility suffers.
• Users get no clean, consistent control: The workarounds are clunky and incomplete.
• Regulatory pushback is finally happening—a good sign—but it’s not here yet.

This is exactly the kind of manipulative design often labeled a dark pattern—where Google structures choices so that publishers are forced to give up something important. It's heavy-handed and deserving of criticism.

Final Thoughts

Until regulators force change, website owners face an unfair dilemma: block AI summaries and lose visibility, or allow Google to repurpose their work with minimal recourse.

The only silver lining: the EU and UK are taking action. For now, the best real-world fix remains max-snippet:0—a flawed solution, but the only one available.

Would you consider this a fair feature—or a classic example of dark pattern engineering? Let us know in the comments.