In a recent interview, Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed that sources and links will still be part of the AI responses. When asked what he thought about the decline in the use of traditional search in favor of AI search, he mentioned that Google would survive on a mix of subscriptions and advertising.
Google on the future of links and sources
The Google CEO acknowledged that people still want to connect with what’s on the web. He also shared that Google is creating a seamless transition from classic search to AI mode and that according to its internal metrics, people are happy with it.
In response to an interviewer’s question about whether Google would at some point abandon the ten blue links and traditional search, he responded that the process is a “continuum,” meaning a gradual transition, not a “rip the band-aid” type of change.
The question asked by the interviewer:
“I think a lot of people expect that at some point the classic Google type of search interface will disappear. Maybe the 10 blue links will disappear and you’ll kind of have this default AI mode.”
…Do you think this goes away at some point if you rip off the band-aid and just go into full AI mode?
Sundar Pichai confirmed that sources and links will not always be part of the research:
“You know, I think it’s important to support users throughout the journey and make sure the product meets their expectations.
So, you know, I try not to anticipate that.
I think it’s very clear that as we move through these changes, people are responding positively. We can see this very clearly in the long-term measurements of the product. And so I think we understand that. But people want search to be fast.
I think through search people are looking to connect to what’s out there on the web, so that’s important to us. That’s all that.
So I think you see us evolving the product.
And I think you’ll continue to see it methodical, but we didn’t have AI mode a year ago. But now many people are experiencing it. I think we’ve made things smoother than before.
So it’s a continuum.
But I don’t see…
The sources and links will still be there.
Pichai says people want to connect to what’s on the web and that sources and links are always part of the experience. But he also claims that AI mode is becoming more transparent and widely used, which has a real impact on benchmarks.
Visibility is not the same as referrals
The idea of evolving traditional search so that it seamlessly transitions to AI mode will not be popular with publishers and SEOs. The reality of AI “links” and “sources” is that viewability is not the same as referral traffic. So, when Pichai’s AI mode provides visibility on the one hand, it also diminishes referrals on the other.
This is directly related to the concept of Google Zero. Google Zero is the big brand’s calculation that SEO traffic drops to zero. So, to survive, businesses must promote and monetize as if Google referrals would one day be zero, Google Zero.
The reality of AI mode is that Google preserves the appearance of attribution while decreasing the economic value of clicks.
Google says users are responding positively
The other important point in his answer is that Pichai says Google can see a positive user response to AI mode in their long-term metrics. But people are increasingly concerned about data center usage, the record amounts of water they use and the damage to the environment as well as the cost of energy, which affects the cost of everything from the clothes you wear to the dinner served on the table.
The interviewer even mentioned how college graduates across the United States booed at the mere mention of AI. So despite all the negative public opinion towards AI, Pichai still insists that people are happy with it.
Google agrees to replace search advertising model
One of the two interviewers gestured to his co-interviewer and commented that he had told him he hadn’t done a traditional Google search in a year and asked Pichai if he was OK with people abandoning search in favor of purely AI queries.
He asked Pichai if he agreed with users not using traditional search:
“When you hear that, are you cool? Like, this is the kind of user I want right now, or does that make you a little cold because the traditional search advertising industry is pretty good for you.”
Pichai’s response seems to suggest that there could be a mix of subscription and advertising revenues in the future.
He replied:
“Well, I think we will do it, on the contrary, in AI mode, in agent mode… these things are going to do a lot more for you than what we could do for users 10 years ago.
I think economic value is always a function of the total value you offer to users. We would all say that over time the value we provide to users increases, there is more competition and more choice.
So I’m sure that between a combination of subscriptions and advertising, the good models will continue to be there.
This may be the first time anyone at Google has mentioned a combination of subscriptions and advertising as a way to monetize the AI web. Where does this leave publishers?
When asked about the negative economic future that many believe AI brings, he compared AI to the introduction of the spreadsheet and how it revolutionized financial analysis, how it will make coding easier, and how it will allow doctors to spend more time with patients.
All these analogies and comparisons avoid the damage caused to the web ecosystem by non-referential visibility.
His response:
“I think people will be more productive. They will have more time for hobbies. All of that will be true at the same time.”
Pichai believes that the web ecosystem can survive on visibility and that Google will survive if people stop using traditional search. But what about the web ecosystem? Pichai almost recommended eating cake.
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