Google has significantly expanded its AI-powered search capabilities, potentially threatening the web ecosystem that has sustained the company for decades. The tech giant now offers AI Overviews and AI Mode to all users, both designed to answer questions directly without requiring clicks to external websites.
Tech columnist John Herrman from New York Magazine’s Intelligencer reports that AI Overviews appear as summary blurbs at the top of traditional search results. Google calls this “one of the most successful launches in Search in the past decade.” The newer AI Mode completely replaces conventional search with an AI chatbot interface that breaks down complex questions into subtopics.
Both features fundamentally change how users interact with web content. Instead of clicking through to websites, users receive AI-generated summaries of information sourced from those sites. External links are relegated to footnotes rather than primary destinations.
This shift creates a significant problem for the broader internet. Websites depend on Google to drive traffic, which they then monetize through advertising or other means. If Google’s AI tools provide answers without sending users to the original sources, those websites lose revenue while Google retains more user attention.
The head of Google Search recently told The Verge that “the search results page was a construct,” suggesting the company views traditional search as outdated. However, this approach risks undermining the very web content that trains Google’s AI systems.
Google appears willing to accept these consequences to compete in the AI race against companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.