It’s no exaggeration to say that AI has fundamentally changed everything we thought we knew about the web, and that’s no more evident than in Google’s own drastic changes to Search, announced at this year’s Google I/O event.
In case you missed it, the tagline the Silicon Valley giant hung much of its two-hour presentation on was: “Google Search is now AI search.” So what does that mean?
We’ve shared our breakdown of new features coming to Google Search and its results page if you want the lowdown, or you can watch our latest podcast episode where myself, Hamish Hector, Lance Ulanoff, Axel Metz and Matthew Bolton discuss the keynote in full.
What I’m more interested in is how this changes things for you, the reader, who finds new content and answers to their burning questions using the world’s largest search engine. Here’s how it could change the way you use the Internet.
Look at
Trust me, just me
But first let’s examine the “why”. Google doesn’t just want to be the home page of your internet browser anymore; now it feels like it will be the internet. Its biggest changes yet to the search box and results page mark a huge shift from Google being a gateway to more content to bypassing content creators entirely.
Despite Google’s assurances during I/O that trusted sources and sites will still be suggested as part of its new, expanded and widget-laden AI overview, and of course users will still be able to see a list of results as usual below it, there is a glaring omission of the big picture; How does Google Search retrieve reliable information when these sources no longer exist?
The thing is, sites like TechRadar rely heavily on Google search results to connect with our audience around the world, but with all these changes to Google, publications are seeing fewer and fewer referrals. It has had an immediate effect; some of my favorite tech and gaming publications are already closed, good journalists are out of work, and there’s still a massive question mark about how we adapt to this rapidly changing space — and that should matter to you, too.
Because where on earth does Google get its reliable information and the “1 billion facts” it updates every minute if there is no one left to publish them?
Heard it through the grapevine
You may have already noticed, but Google relies heavily on sites like YouTube and community sites like Reddit to inform results; both of which are platforms I use regularly for the same thing. The difference is that, as a discerning reader, I can understand the difference between user-generated content that contains bias and information presented by regulated, accredited media.
We don’t always get things right, nor are we completely free of bias, but journalists are a sight more likely to present a balanced view than your average Joe due to the various hoops we have to jump through to maintain our trusted status – something Google itself has promoted and encouraged with some of its SEO guides over the years.
To cut as much of the technical jargon as possible, what it means for youdear reader, is that the worst-case scenario is to ask Google to help troubleshoot your smart home setup or PC build, advice from a post made 7 years ago on Reddit by someone who perhaps has the chops to advise it. But at worst, it means you can be manipulated by shady actors who game the system.
This is something the BBC has recently explored; in just 20 minutes, journalist Thomas Germain was able to manipulate both Gemini and ChatGPT into believing he was the world champion hot dog eater. In his recent coverage, he notes how Google is fighting back against misinformation with tough penalties against brands and sites seen to manipulate search results, but doing so at scale across user-generated sites will be a difficult task.
So instead, a brand might choose to pay a YouTuber or TikToker, or create a few dozen bot accounts on Reddit to send the same message; ours is the best phone, the best web hosting service, the best VPN. It becomes doubly nerve-wracking if you ask health, financial or safety-related questions and unknowingly take advice from manipulative or untrustworthy sources.
What can you do about it? Little precious if you plan to continue using Google Search regardless. Switching search engines is an option, or just completely refusing to engage in AI mode works, but personally, I’d like to hope that you all develop your own idea of what a trusted source looks like and go directly to them the next time you have a query.
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