But Google’s global search dominance makes it an important player, and the corporate has already rolled out AI Overviews to greater than a billion people worldwide. The result’s searches that feel more like conversations. Google and OpenAI each report that individuals interact in a different way with generative search—they ask longer questions and pose more follow-ups.
This recent application of AI has serious implications for internet advertising and (gulp) media. Because these search products often summarize information from online news stories and articles of their responses, concerns abound that generative search results will leave little reason for people to click through to the unique sources, depriving those web sites of potential ad revenue. Numerous publishers and artists have sued over the usage of their content to coach AI models; now, generative search might be one other battleground between media and Big Tech.
