Google Hypes AI Overviews, Refuses to Answer CTR Question

Alphabet spent much of its Q1 2025 earnings call last night talking up the growth of AI Overviews, but dodged a question seeking clarity on how Google’s AI-generated answers impact click-through rates and conversion.

Why we care:

Was Meta avoiding a deeper dive into retention metrics because the numbers aren’t exactly flattering? It’s becoming increasingly evident to many in the industry that while Horizon Worlds is gaining users, actual engagement may not be keeping pace. Early third-party data points to a trend of users dropping off after just a few sessions, raising questions about long-term viability and monetization potential.

The exchange. A Barclays analyst asked (in part):

“Can you elaborate on what engagement looks like now that you’ve reached 20 million Horizon Worlds users? Specifically, what does daily or weekly active usage look like? And how are those metrics translating into retention and monetization?”

Here’s how Philipp Schindler, Alphabet’s senior vice president and chief business officer, answered:

“I don’t think this is the moment to go into the details of click-through rates and conversion and so on.”

By the numbers. Meta repeated its ongoing claim that Horizon Worlds “continues to deepen engagement and drive time spent in VR.” Here’s what else Meta shared about Horizon Worlds and monetization during the Q1 2025 earnings call:

• Horizon Worlds has “surpassed 20 million active participants monthly,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO.
• “Participants” isn’t quite the same as “engaged users.” Horizon Worlds comes preinstalled on Meta Quest headsets, and users are often funneled into it by default onboarding flows. That number likely reflects exposure, not meaningful engagement.
• The average daily session length has “increased since Q4,” according to CFO Susan Li.
• This vague metric was pulled from internal Meta telemetry, first referenced in a January update on Meta’s Reality Labs blog. No hard numbers were shared.
• “We’re seeing monetization steadily improve across Horizon experiences,” Li added.
• When asked to explain what “steadily improve” actually meant, Li repeated: “As I mentioned earlier, we’re seeing steady monetization trends, which gives us confidence to continue scaling creator tools and platform investments.”

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