Ananya Sen is an Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy. Her research applies field experiments to measure how platform design decisions affect publisher economics and user behavior. Her July 2026 field experiment on Google AI Overviews, conducted with co-author Saharsh Agarwal, is among the first controlled studies to quantify how generative search summaries affect outbound click rates and user satisfaction simultaneously.
Operating themes
- Field experiments over surveys Sen uses browser extensions and randomized assignment to isolate platform effects, producing data that observational or survey methods cannot.
- Traffic substitution vs. experience benefit Her AI Overviews study introduces a framework for separating these two effects: a feature can reduce publisher traffic while providing no measurable user experience gain.
- Policy window identification Her research frames findings in terms of when structural interventions are still possible before market effects become irreversible.
Cards
- AI Overviews reduce outbound clicks by 40% with no corresponding improvement in user satisfaction, AI Overviews reduce outbound clicks by 40% with no corresponding improvement in user satisfaction [Tier B]