Search engine definitions have been replaced with AI previews. Google appears to be experiencing issues since it began rolling out its updated, even more AI-focused search experience at I/O 2026. Currently, searching for the words “skip,” “stop,” or “ignore” on Google no longer shows a definition snippet; instead, it offers an AI overview and lots of blank space. Because users have complained about the problem on social media and in posts like TechCrunch And Macrumers If you’ve reported on this, even if you don’t get a definition, you can still get a collection of links to articles documenting the problem before the traditional list of links.
Several Woozad staff members were able to reproduce the strange AI Overview responses using their own Google searches. In incognito mode, Google responded correctly once, showing its usual snippet with the definition, but failed a second time, responding with an AI preview. Links to online dictionaries still appear below these incorrect results, but you have to scroll through an AI preview or article grid to access them.
Ian Carlos Campbell for WoozadWoozad has reached out to Google for more information on this issue and its attempts to resolve it. We will update this article if we receive a response.
Overall, Google’s failure to automatically display a definition isn’t as bad as recommending people put glue on a pizza, one of the problems the company faced when it first launched AI previews. It could even benefit Merriam-Webster’s web traffic. The issue highlights the awkward transition Google is currently going through as it moves from being the ultimate referrer for other websites to becoming an all-in-one AI assistant.
