News publishers sound alarm on Google’s new AI-infused search, warn of ‘catastrophic’ impacts
CNN
The revamped Gemini search experience will likely cause an even further decrease in audience, potentially starving them of readers and revenue.
Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here. The A.I. doomsday clock appears ready to strike midnight for publishers. Google on Tuesday announced that it will infuse its ubiquitous search engine with its powerful artificial intelligence model, Gemini, drawing on the rapidly advancing technology to directly answer user queries at the top of results pages. “Google will do the Googling for you,” the company explained. In other words, users will soon no longer have to click on the links displayed in search results to find the information they are seeking. On its surface that might sound convenient, but for news publishers — many of whom are already struggling with steep traffic declines — the revamped search experience will likely cause an even further decrease in audience, potentially starving them of readers and revenue. Why spend time clicking on a link when Google has already scoured the internet and harvested the relevant information with its A.I.? “Google will take care of the legwork,” executives said. But a lot of that legwork, of course, comes in the form of human-written articles and expertise published across the internet on blogs and media outlets, all built on a foundation of advertising support. Google’s message was heard loud and clear. Within hours of the Mountain View announcement, the news industry began sounding the alarm.
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