The end of Google as the brain of the Internet? Problems he faces at 25

Google just turned 25 years old. The search engine created by Larry Page and Sergey Brin has become the oracle of the Internet. The same librarian we all turn to to find the answer to any question.

Any statistics related to its omnipresence are obscene.. It is estimated that more than 40,000 search queries are processed every second. Through this, Alphabet has built a cross-device advertising empire that has also become a global economic driver, as well as creating an entire sector such as SEO focused on ranking number one in search engines.

As we’ve said before, Google’s weight in today’s world is obscene. But at 25, the search engine stumbled upon something perhaps no one expected: a possible rival. Or rather, a possible change of model.

Generative AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, as well as Google’s own Bard, enable habit change by: Users get used to not searching through multiple resultsbut to stay and ask questions to the one who gives us.

A new approach that also completely changes the way advertising is sold and served, a business on which Alphabet continues to depend for more than 90%. Its only weak point, of course, is that all its eggs lie in the advertising basket, which is increasingly subject to scrutiny by antitrust authorities on both sides of the pond.

Some voices are already starting to realize that this could be the beginning of the end of Google as we know it.and who knows if this is also the beginning of an era where the big G isn’t as versatile.

But if this is true, Google is changing too. This is what the intersection looks like.

AI makes Google move: SGE arrives

After accusations of immobility, when ChatGPT and Microsoft began moving pieces, Sundar Pichai and Google began rearranging their cards under the table.

From there the Bard was bornan alternative proposal for the chatbot model and a beta presentation of the so-called Search Generative Experience (SGE).

What is this? Essentially, this is the biggest Google page redesign in history.

Here’s a very brief explanation of its evolution:

• Initially, Google began showing 10 blue links with results that its algorithm deemed most relevant to users’ search queries.
• He then inserted advertisements into these results that became increasingly less obvious.
• After this, different types of results were introduced: such as videos, live results in modules such as live sports or weather developments, and question and answer fields that provided excerpts from websites so that we did not have to enter them. I’m sure you’ve used them.
• All this has led to the emergence of so-called zero-click search, in which users do not need to leave Google itself to get an answer.

All of this has resulted in fewer users leaving Google, less traffic coming to the website, and an increased likelihood that we will end up clicking on ads.

The goal is the same as social networks: to keep us inside.

But SGE takes it to the next level because it enters the first answer generated by artificial intelligence, which dramatically reduces the likelihood that the user will click on the result.

Guillermo Gascón, SEO consultant, explains that this trend has come from afar. AI will be another step:

“This trend started in 2013 when Google introduced the first featured snippets and modules in one of its algorithm updates. Many websites experience a drop in traffic after these types of updates. But what really matters to Google is the mass of users, not so much the company. For this reason, every time a new results module appears, it hides behind the fact that if it manages to make users stay in the search engine and solve their search queries without leaving it, it means that it offers a faster and more satisfying experience. answer. .

This chart Insight Partners shows the changes quite well:

However: Is this model suitable for advertising on Google? Is it in your best interest to launch it or are you considering these changes due to the advancement of OpenAI, Microsoft and the development of artificial intelligence in general?

Juan Gonzalez Villa, also an SEO consultant, explained Hypertext next:

I think they will face the classic destruction dilemma. Could a more conversational search engine model that doesn’t need to link to third-party websites monetize in the same way as Google’s today? Because ad revenue depends primarily on how often users click on results.

How does Google work with AI?

Only available in beta to some users, the feature aggregates verified data from multiple organic search results and uses Google’s LLM to transform it into a written response to a user’s search, all without having to click on any links on the results page.

This is a logical extension of the featured snippets feature, and in fact SGE relies heavily on the featured snippets algorithm to compose its text. This brings up a list of links that, according to various analyses, do not rank directly or organically on Google.

Independent investigation Understanding the one we mentioned found that only 57% of links cited by SGE come from the first page of organic results..

If you dig deeper, SGE’s first link matches the first organic link only 12% of the time, and in 45% of searches it doesn’t even make the top 10. If users start changing their reading habits and clicking behavior on the SGE field, it could lead to big changes in traffic and viewership.

Meanwhile, accusations of monopolism are gaining momentum.

Although Google hasn’t seen any impact on its profits yet, the apparent monopoly it has in the search engine sectorin advertising (largely along with Meta) and in Android and Apple mobile devices is really starting to be questioned by regulators.

Especially after it was discovered that Google is manipulating the keyword expansion process by not only using synonyms and entities, among other things, but also including commercial terms that trigger advertisements.

That is, For example, if you’re looking for simple recipes, you can modify your search to bring up ads related to contract food delivery., a practice called “search expansion.” A practice that increases company revenue for obvious reasons.

This is not the only aspect associated with their monopolies. Rumors that Apple will work on its own search engine are becoming more frequent, while the agreements that Google has with the Cupertino company or as a financier of the Mozilla Foundation, a priori competitor to its Chrome browser, are put under a magnifying glass. with Firefox.

The end of the cookie that never comes

Left in the background his plans to end the current cookie systema model that could strengthen its position as it would be based on a system in which its overlap as a search engine (Google) and a browser (Chrome) would give it an advantage in tracking users without repetition cookie networks.

In principle, this change was supposed to come by 2023, but the European Union pointed out the seams, and Google paralyzed it.

The change in practice will be that instead of identifying a user as being interested in buying a vacuum cleaner because they have visited multiple websites that sell it, through cohort analysis they place that user in groups of “interested in vacuum cleaners” as well as in “buying a car”, etc. In short, from person to group.

There has been a lot of doubt throughout the year about how these changes might affect the Internet’s economic ecosystem.. This could have a particular impact on affiliate marketing as well as programmatic advertising networks, which are of course external to Google.

This is where some experts and stakeholders saw a problem that could further cement Google’s monopoly under the auspices of a desire to ensure privacy or adapt to stricter regulations.

Google is starting to show signs of wanting to separate itself from the open Internet

Ultimately, this mutation, whether it was forced or whether Google sought it, we do not know, also affects the very foundations of the Internet, the network that, in its motto, sought to “organize and make accessible.”

The site has been working the same way for many years. It is a reliable protocol that connects clients (who makes the request), servers and browsers. But Google has a plan to change that.

In Ars Technica, they explained a proposal from several Google engineers for a new web standard called the “Web Integrity API.”

The goal of the API-based Internet is to enhance user privacy and security by verifying the integrity of the client’s environment, ensuring that it has not been modified or tampered with without authorization. This data can be useful for various purposes, such as more accurately counting ad impressions, combat bots on social networksprotect intellectual property rights, prevent fraud in web games and improve the security of financial transactions.

This all sounds great, but the proposal has raised concerns. about privacy and user control of the browser environment, where Google, again with Chrome, has a monopoly.

Given all this, it’s worth wondering what Google and what Internet will emerge from the search engine company’s apparent crossroads. What will Google be like in 5 years? And after another 25? Or perhaps, as happened with some early web giants who seemed irreplaceable, there won’t be another 25 years?