Berliner Boersenzeitung - Google's AI search revamp puts publishers in a quandary

EUR -
AED 4.31522
AFN 80.888304
ALL 97.498912
AMD 450.961785
ANG 2.102609
AOA 1077.328333
ARS 1495.545148
AUD 1.785198
AWG 2.117061
AZN 2.01233
BAM 1.954767
BBD 2.370958
BDT 143.554169
BGN 1.957153
BHD 0.442943
BIF 3499.980968
BMD 1.174839
BND 1.500327
BOB 8.114713
BRL 6.487701
BSD 1.174285
BTN 101.427422
BWP 15.69371
BYN 3.842986
BYR 23026.852341
BZD 2.358764
CAD 1.603762
CDF 3394.111322
CHF 0.934818
CLF 0.028458
CLP 1116.391284
CNY 8.404793
CNH 8.41366
COP 4786.013775
CRC 592.794432
CUC 1.174839
CUP 31.133244
CVE 110.205847
CZK 24.537655
DJF 208.90054
DKK 7.464419
DOP 71.253271
DZD 152.08381
EGP 57.644553
ERN 17.622591
ETB 161.96881
FJD 2.631934
FKP 0.865827
GBP 0.870473
GEL 3.184019
GGP 0.865827
GHS 12.271518
GIP 0.865827
GMD 84.588684
GNF 10187.705182
GTQ 9.012239
GYD 245.680222
HKD 9.220692
HNL 30.74915
HRK 7.538825
HTG 154.101221
HUF 396.878334
IDR 19177.138578
ILS 3.932645
IMP 0.865827
INR 101.657096
IQD 1538.287418
IRR 49475.420674
ISK 142.202486
JEP 0.865827
JMD 188.013085
JOD 0.833
JPY 172.597416
KES 151.718302
KGS 102.566655
KHR 4705.594432
KMF 491.662342
KPW 1057.367409
KRW 1618.012605
KWD 0.358479
KYD 0.978579
KZT 637.390593
LAK 25313.628379
LBP 105215.868765
LKR 354.42278
LRD 235.44663
LSL 20.700553
LTL 3.468995
LVL 0.710649
LYD 6.337679
MAD 10.546829
MDL 19.745738
MGA 5177.331239
MKD 61.527499
MMK 2465.79507
MNT 4218.199965
MOP 9.494685
MRU 46.701927
MUR 53.349419
MVR 18.060731
MWK 2036.250373
MXN 21.785975
MYR 4.956058
MZN 75.142686
NAD 20.699977
NGN 1795.00214
NIO 43.217539
NOK 11.889198
NPR 162.286346
NZD 1.949217
OMR 0.451744
PAB 1.17428
PEN 4.175694
PGK 4.938433
PHP 66.915914
PKR 333.642257
PLN 4.256298
PYG 8795.391372
QAR 4.293396
RON 5.071081
RSD 117.17847
RUB 93.40684
RWF 1697.425028
SAR 4.407443
SBD 9.733656
SCR 17.248342
SDG 705.492335
SEK 11.200132
SGD 1.503048
SHP 0.923239
SLE 26.96278
SLL 24635.799543
SOS 671.15404
SRD 42.987959
STD 24316.803695
STN 24.487273
SVC 10.274529
SYP 15275.247183
SZL 20.683074
THB 37.993557
TJS 11.155755
TMT 4.123686
TND 3.422792
TOP 2.751589
TRY 47.64496
TTD 7.98075
TWD 34.583165
TZS 3019.337536
UAH 49.06211
UGX 4213.774124
USD 1.174839
UYU 46.965391
UZS 14987.083253
VES 141.301934
VND 30709.714631
VUV 140.754337
WST 3.229407
XAF 655.619048
XAG 0.030088
XAU 0.00035
XCD 3.175062
XCG 2.116382
XDR 0.81538
XOF 655.61347
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.07773
ZAR 20.724642
ZMK 10574.962677
ZMW 27.388649
ZWL 378.297809
  • CMSC

    0.0000

    22.43

    0%

  • SCS

    -0.1700

    10.51

    -1.62%

  • RBGPF

    7.0000

    75

    +9.33%

  • RYCEF

    -0.2600

    13.24

    -1.96%

  • RELX

    0.6200

    53.71

    +1.15%

  • CMSD

    -0.0400

    22.85

    -0.18%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • BCE

    -0.1700

    24.43

    -0.7%

  • BCC

    -1.9200

    86.43

    -2.22%

  • RIO

    -0.7900

    63.83

    -1.24%

  • NGG

    -0.4200

    72.23

    -0.58%

  • BTI

    0.2500

    52.62

    +0.48%

  • GSK

    0.2000

    38.23

    +0.52%

  • JRI

    -0.0600

    13.15

    -0.46%

  • VOD

    0.2200

    11.52

    +1.91%

  • BP

    -0.5800

    32.13

    -1.81%

  • AZN

    0.6800

    73.68

    +0.92%

Google's AI search revamp puts publishers in a quandary
Google's AI search revamp puts publishers in a quandary / Photo: Glenn CHAPMAN - AFP

Google's AI search revamp puts publishers in a quandary

Google's use of artificial intelligence to sum up answers to search queries has publishers wondering if traffic to their websites will wither.

Text size:

The internet titan announced Tuesday it is introducing AI-generated answers to online queries in the United States, in one of the biggest changes to its world-leading search engine in 25 years.

The change will soon spread to other countries, arguably reducing the importance of links and web pages for more than a billion people.

And bloggers, news outlets and others who benefit from people clicking on their links via Google's search results could see audiences dwindle if people are sated by what its "AI Overview" serves up.

"It's going to create a negative impact on brands and publishers who rely on organic search traffic for sure," Marketing AI Institute CEO Paul Roetzer said of such a scenario.

"We just have no idea how much, and we don't really know what you can do about it."

AI blurbs generated by Google's Gemini technology will offer succinct summaries of what it found on the internet with only a few links to the online sources that supplied the information.

Research firm Gartner predicts traffic to the web from search engines will fall 25 percent by 2026 because of increased reliance on AI in general.

Roetzer noted that Google has not provided much information about how the change might affect advertisers or publishers, essentially asking them to have faith.

"It's just going to be a grand experiment happening in real time that will move people's businesses one way or the other, depending on how it plays out," Roetzer told AFP.

For now, marketers and publishers have little choice but to keep doing what they are doing, and diversify where they appear online to get noticed in places other than Google searches, he added.

But online audiences have already been splintering as people spend time on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and other venues -- so opportunities exist to connect with people there, Roetzer added.

Aware of the negative reactions from publishers and content creators, Google executives insisted on Tuesday that the new formula would encourage users to click on a wider variety of websites, not the other way around.

"We're committed to ensuring a vibrant ecosystem," promised Hema Budaraju, a Google search director, at a press roundtable. In the new version, "sites receive more traffic" than before, she said.

- AI-journalism opportunity? -

Roetzer said news outlets and other media creators rich with fresh information could strike deals with Google to make money from licensing the data used in AI models.

"There's a chance that AI in a weird way saves journalism, because these (AI) model companies need real-time data," Roetzer said.

"What if these AI companies just fund journalism because they need it?"

CUNY Graduate School of Journalism professor Jeff Jarvis said he didn't blame Google for trying to improve an online search experience that had become "a mess."

He was leery of AI being used in search, however, because "it has no sense of fact."

Jarvis also advocated news outlets make deals with AI titans to provide credible current information, saying "there's an opportunity here for our industry."

"If you have unique and credible authoritative information, you might benefit," he told AFP.

The advertising industry, meanwhile, could take a hit of billions of dollars, according to Jeff Ragovin, chief executive of Semasio.

His company specializes in using semantics for the better targeting of ads.

"For businesses dependent on search rankings, the uncertainty surrounding AI Overview is alarming," Ragovin said.

Still, Google relies on ads for its revenue, so it's not likely to undermine that part of its business to win the AI race against Microsoft and OpenAI, said Media Growth Partners consultant David Clinch.

"They have to bake advertising into it," Clinch insisted.

"Otherwise, they're creating AI just to kill themselves."

Google pushed back at the suggestion that ChatGPT-style AI interactions could impact its business, saying it has found that people use Search more, and are more satisfied with their results when using Overview.

(T.Burkhard--BBZ)