At Google’s annual developers conference, the tech giant unveiled a major update to its search engine: AI-powered summaries that will appear at the top of search results. While this promises to improve the speed and effectiveness of finding information, it also has implications for web traffic and ad revenue. Starting this week, users in the U.S. will see these conversational summaries generated by Google’s AI technology when it deems them the quickest and most effective way to satisfy a user’s curiosity.
The AI overviews have been in testing for the past year and will now become a staple of Google’s search results in the U.S. By the end of the year, Google expects them to be part of search results for about 1 billion people. The summaries will primarily be used for complex subjects and brainstorming purposes, while simple searches for things like store recommendations or weather forecasts will still display traditional website links and ads.
According to Marc McCollum, chief innovation officer at Raptive, about 25% of web traffic could be affected by the de-emphasis on website links due to the AI summaries. This could result in billions of dollars in lost ad revenue, impacting both Google and website publishers who rely on advertising for their revenue. McCollum believes that Big Tech companies like Google have taken creative content from publishers to train their AI models, effectively transferring wealth from small businesses to them.
While Google acknowledges the potential impact on website traffic and ad revenue, it also believes that the AI overviews can drive more searches and deeper engagement. Liz Reid, who oversees Google’s search operations, states that during the testing phase, users conducted more searches because they could now ask questions that were previously too difficult to answer. Users still want to click through to websites for further information, even after reading the AI summary. Google aims to continue innovating on the AI overviews and ensure that the most useful traffic is sent to websites.
The increasing use of AI technology to summarize information has raised legal questions regarding copyright infringement. This has led to a high-profile lawsuit between The New York Times and OpenAI, as well as potential lawsuits for Google’s AI overviews if they are seen as unfairly profiting from publishers' content. However, Jim Yu, executive chairman of BrightEdge, sees this as the next chapter in search and believes it is a significant moment for the industry.
Outside of the conference, protesters targeted Google’s $1.2 billion deal known as Project Nimbus, alleging that the AI technology provided to the Israeli government is being deployed in the Gaza war. Google denies these claims, and the protest did not impact the conference or dampen the enthusiasm inside.
Google’s move to incorporate AI summaries into its search engine marks a significant shift that has the potential to reshape web surfing habits. While it aims to improve the search experience for users, there are concerns about the impact on web traffic and ad revenue. As AI continues to evolve and be utilized in various services, the industry is entering a new chapter in search, with Google at the forefront of innovation.
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