Google CEO Sundar Pichai OKs Using AI Mode to Replace Traditional Search

In a recent interview, Google CEO Sundar Photosi confirmed that sources and links will always be part of AI answers and when asked how he feels about the decline in use of Classic Search in favor of AI Search, he stated that Google will live on a combination of subscriptions and advertising.

Google on the Future of Links and Sources

Google’s CEO acknowledged that people still want to connect to the web. He also shared that Google is creating a seamless transition from traditional search to AI mode and that according to their internal metrics, people are satisfied with it.

In response to a question asking whether Google will at some point move away from the ten blue links and old search, he said the process is “continuing,” meaning a gradual change, not a “bucket-breaking” type change.

Question asked by the interviewer:

“I think a lot of people are expecting that at some point, Google’s standard kind of old search interface will end. The 10 blue links might go away and you just have this AI mode as default.

…

Sundar Photosi confirmed that sources and links will not always be part of Search:

“You know, I think it’s important to bring users on a journey and make sure the product is working for their expectations.

So, you know, I try not to go on about that.

I think it’s very clear as we progress through these changes, people are responding well. We can see it in the long-term metrics of the brand so clearly. And so I think we understand that. But people want to search faster.

I think with search, people are looking to interact with what’s on the web, so that’s important to us. That’s all.

So I think you’re seeing us change the product.

And I think you’ll continue to see it as an option, but we didn’t have AI Mode last year. But now many people are facing it. I think we made it easier to get there than before.

And so it’s a continuation.

But I don’t see…

Sources and links will always be there as part of you. “

Pichai says people want to interact with what’s on the web and that sources and links are always part of the experience. But he also says that AI Mode is becoming easier and more widely used, which has an impact on transfers.

Visibility Is Not The Same As Transmission

The idea of ​​converting traditional search to AI mode will not be popular with publishers and SEOs. The reality of “links” and “sources” in AI Mode is that visibility is not the same thing as forwarding traffic. So while Photosi’s AI Mode offers visibility in one hand, it also reduces transmission in the other.

This is directly related to the concept of Google Zero. Google Zero is a great product number that referral traffic drops to zero. So to survive, businesses must promote and monetize as if Google referrals will one day be zero, Google Zero.

The reality of AI Mode is that Google maintains the appearance of the attribute while reducing the economic value of the click.

Google Says Users Respond Well

Another important point in his answer is that Photosi says that Google can see a positive user response to AI Mode in their long-term metrics. But people are increasingly concerned about data center usage, record amounts of water they use, and the damage they do to the environment and energy costs, which affect the cost of everything from the clothes you wear to the dinner on the table.

The interviewer even mentioned how college students across the United States gasp at the mention of AI. So with all the negative public sentiment against AI, Photosi still insists that people are happy with it.

Google Is Right With The Search Advertising Model

One of the two interviewees pointed to the interviewee and noted that he had told him that he hadn’t done a traditional Google search in over a year and asked Photosi if he was okay with people abandoning search in favor of pure AI queries.

You asked Photosi if it’s ok for users who don’t use classic search :

“When you hear that, are you happy? Like, this is the type of user I’m looking for right now, or it makes you a little bit more comfortable because the traditional search ad business is good for you.”

Photosi’s response seems to suggest that in the future there may be a combination of subscription and advertising revenue.

He replied:

“Well, I think, if anything, we’re going to do it in AI mode, in agent… these things are going to do more for you than we could do for users 10 years ago.

I think economic value is always a function of the total value you provide to users. We can all say that over time, the value we offer to users is increasing, there is more competition, there are more options.

So I feel comfortable between the mix of subscriptions and ads that the right models will continue to exist.”

That’s probably the first time someone at Google has talked about a combination of subscriptions and advertising as a way to monetize the AI ​​web. Where does that leave publishers?

When asked about the dire economic future that many feel AI brings, he compared AI to the introduction of the spreadsheet and how that would change financial analysis, how it would make coding easier, and how it would enable doctors to spend more time with patients.

All those analogies and comparisons prevent damage to the Internet system brought about by non-referential visibility.

His response:

“I think people will be more productive. They will have more leisure time. All of that will be true at the same time.”

Pichasi is convinced that the web ecosystem can live on visibility, and that Google will be fine if people give up the old search. But where does that leave the web ecosystem? Photo everything but it is recommended to eat the cake.

Watch the New York Times Hard Fork Podcast

Featured image/Screenshot from the Hard Fork podcast