This is the most significant change to online search in years as Google has now started testing an AI-only search engine. On Wednesday, Alphabet (GOOGL.O ) removed the classic 10 blue links, replacing them with an AI-generated summary in an experiment of how this might work. With its next step in integrating artificial intelligence into its core business, this new feature is available, exclusively to subscribers of Google One AI Premium.
The Evolution of Google Search
Google users have interacted with 10 blue links since the beginning of their search results decades ago to find relevant authoritative webpages. Google Search will undergo a transformation through the addition of AI-generated summaries. AI Mode from Google stands as the singular AI-based interface within search which produces elaborate automated summaries instead of established search results. Users can find and activate this feature by selecting the "AI Mode" tab that appears when they choose any other tab including Images or Maps.
Power users at Google have indicated their desire for AI responses covering various categories of search queries according to Google vice president Robby Stein. Google has made artificial intelligence responses the central aspect of its search evolution strategy. The search tool AI Mode operates with a Gemini 2.0 custom model that carries advanced reasoning functions ideal for complex question responses.
Google One AI Premium: The Gateway to AI Mode
AI Mode exists as a feature available to subscribers of the $19.99 per month Google One AI Premium service which provides both extra cloud storage and unique AI-powered features. Google developed this payments approach to support its corporate target of pushing AI deeper into their product range.
Google restricts AI Mode access to paying subscribers because they want to evaluate how users value enhanced AI search tools. Google’s summarization tool called AI Overviews functions across 100 countries but AI Mode goes beyond by completely removing links and exactly adding a question search bar for further inquiries.
Implications for Users and the Web Ecosystem
This means that the transition from AI search results to search results is very important for users and content creators alike. It offers faster simpler answers without having to click to find multiple links. Also included in AI Mode’s summaries are hyperlinks to cited webpages, keeping the actual sources visible.
However, this will be concerning to publishers, content creators, and website owners. The fact that those 10 blue links are now no long supplying that direct traffic to websites could be bad news for businesses that get visibility from Google. Publishers have the challenge of Google’s AI Overviews that replaced how users navigate through search results. Earlier, Google has been hit by the controversy around AI Overviews drawing click-through rates to external sites so much that it disturbed the revenue for online publishers.
The Competitive Landscape: Google vs. AI Search Rivals
With the rise of Microsoft-backed OpenAI, among others, Google decided to put AI in search as it competes. The move by OpenAI is a sign of coming to conversational search where users no longer navigate traditional search results but get direct answers.
However, Google is under pressure because Alphabet is expected to make $350 billion in 2024 in revenue that is driven by search related advertising. Google’s provoked by Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI and other AI-powered search alternatives forcing the company to innovate aggressively.
When asked what the bet was, Google’s investment chief, Ruth Porat, stressed that the company’s biggest bet was in integrating AI into its search. Making AI Mode a central part of the company’s search strategy, the company is investing heavily to ensure it remains at the leadership of the search market, which is evolving.
Legal and Ethical Challenges
Not all is well about the AI search results gaining popularity. Last month, it was sued by edtech company Chegg (CHGG.N) accusing Google of stealing revenue that publishers would otherwise have received from artificial intelligence generated previews in categories ranging from e-books and Google Play stores to newspaper websites and video platforms. The fact that a company felt the need to sue a company to fight to show how its automated summaries raise copyright and fair use issues demonstrates that this is an issue that lots of these manufacturers are starting to be concerned about.
Ethical concerns have not been fully satisfied even beyond legal dispute. Other attributes of AI authored content should be accurate, unbiased and transparent in its sources. In taking steps to include hyperlinks to cited pages in AI Mode, Google has demonstrated particularly that they strive to include hyperlinks to cited pages. Still, questions remain about exactly — how — AI generated summaries will prioritize information and whether they could reinforce misinformation or bias.
The Future of Google Search
With the launch of AI Mode, Google declares that their future is to be an AI one. As an experimental shift, this reorientation of search represents a paradigm shift, one in which findings from AI are prioritized over page listings, and it will need immense attention paid to it. A success would define how users interact with online information and how businesses conduct SEO and digital marketing.
First, the AI Mode is being tested by Google in its premium subscriptions, but for how long it will be used in the long term depends on feedback from users, its competitors, and the regulatory scrutiny. Whether AI mode becomes the new standard for search or remains an optional power user feature, it’s obvious that Google’s first to AI offering is changing how search is done for the first time.
