Google has a big problem. The AI-powered search engine can be paid

Financial Times He appoints Three people who know Google's plans and wish to remain anonymous say so Google may start charging fees for access to search results using artificial intelligence tools.

Charging for any part of Alphabet's core search engine (Google) would be entirely new for the company. It is worth noting that Since 2000, the company has funded its search engine exclusively through advertising.

Right now, Google does charge a fee for AI, but it applies to Google One and Workspace accounts when we want to access Google Gemini, a competitor to ChatGPT. The search engine itself is still available for free.

Google has been working on improving its search engine for several years through results prepared by generative artificial intelligence. In other words: After you enter your query, we will receive accurate and personalized results that include relevant information, products, recommendations or images. But the problem is this Offering this type of search engine involves much higher costs in terms of IT infrastructure, as well as lower advertising revenue.

The first problem: loss of sources of income

According to the Financial Times, the standard Google search engine as we know it today will remain free. If someone decides to sign up for the paid version, they will still see Google Ads ads in the search engine, but they will get results powered by Gemini AI technology.

In Poland, it is not yet possible to test the search engine with the SGE function, but we provide search results in the version without and with SGE for the English and US versions.

Example of the phrase “what is inflation” in the version without SGE:

Results from standard Google search

|
not shiny. king

The same statement in the SGE version, where Generative AI generates the answer for us:

Results from SGE – Google's generative AI feature

|
not shiny. king

Google still relies primarily on advertising for its revenue. Last year, the company announced this It achieved $175 billion. From ads. The giant has several advertising products, but there are mainly two related to the search engine: Google Advertising Network and Google AdSense.

Google Ads (formerly AdWords) is an advertising system that allows advertisers to create and publish ads that appear directly in Google search results and on other sites of the Google Display Network. These ads are often tailored to specific keywords and may appear at the top or bottom of search engine results pages, making them more visible to users searching for specific information or products.

Google AdSense, in turn, allows website and blog owners to monetize their content by placing Google-served ads on them. These ads are often tailored to the site's content or visitors' interests, and site owners make money from clicks or views of these ads. So when Google displays, for example, news articles in the search engine and we decide to open them, ads may appear on a particular website, from which Google also makes money. In other words, The search engine can and often does serve content from websites that have an active AdSense program and share ad revenue with Google.

Both programs are closely related to research and provide the company with billions of dollars in profits annually. This is where the first problem arises.

A search engine with SGE functionality often presents the answer to the query directly in the search results. This means that the recipient often sees no reason to open a particular subpage – and this is often the subpage on which AdSense ads are displayed. On the one hand, SGE means that publishers and website owners may lose a lot of traffic from the search engine, and on the other hand, the search engine itself cuts off its source of revenue.Because if the user does not enter a particular website, he will not see the ads/AdSense ads. This alone means that Google will likely lose tens of billions of dollars after filing for SGE.

In addition, using content from news sites or blogs, but without referring the user to a specific website, may lead to many lawsuits from site owners, as well as creating many legal regulations. Logically speaking, using content from other sites without providing those sites with search engine traffic doesn't seem fair.

Read also: Don't let AI take your job. Here are five technology trends for 2024.

The second problem: query processing costs

a report Reuters from last year He suggested that handling a search engine query using neural network and language models like Gemini is a good thing Perhaps 10 times the cost of processing a user's query in a standard search engine. These are relatively small amounts per query, but Google has a lot of users, so we're practically talking at least several billion dollars. Additional annual costs for the company.

So we have Dealing with a potential loss of billions of dollars. In terms of profit, plus billions of additional dollars. On the cost side. Sounds like an unprofitable business, right?

Furthermore, Microsoft has added AI features to its Bing search engine in a relatively short period of time. Initially, many Internet users tested the solution, but ultimately, Bing with AI was unable to conquer the market and was unable to snatch away many market shares from the leader, which was Google for many years. AI is lost here because of a simple fact: people do not like to change habits and routinesUsing Google when we want to find something on the Internet is still a habit for most of us.

SGE itself, although currently available to a select group of users and in many markets, is not very popular either. Some users appreciate the new features, but there are opinions like: “SGE never feels like a useful addition to Google Search. A search engine is a tool, just like a screwdriver is not a hammer – I don't want a chatbot in a search engine“Ron Amadeo wrote From Ars Technica.

However, Google cannot completely abandon the topic of artificial intelligence. This would be a shot in the foot, because the company has already announced the addition of artificial intelligence to its search engine and other products, which is also necessary if it wants to continue to be considered an innovative company in the technology sector. But in light of these two serious problems, Google increasingly feels it wants to provide AI, but in the form of a “premium” product.. So, we will have artificial intelligence, but only if we decide to pay extra for access to it.

Checks: Artificial Intelligence is coming for entry-level developer jobs. Programmers have created something that can replace them

Right now, as the Financial Times reports, Google has yet to make a final decision on whether or not it will implement its AI-driven search plan. As for SGE, there is still no date for the launch of the artificial intelligence feature in the global market. Increasingly, it is uncertain whether the gender balance strategy will ever be implemented on a large scale.

Author: Grzegorz Kobra, journalist at Business Insider Polska

Benjamin Blair

“Prone to fits of apathy. Introvert. Award-winning internet evangelist. Extreme beer expert.”

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