Google Search as you know it is about the change forever

Logan Kilpatrick, Google’s AI Studio lead, casually broke some big news on X within the replies of his own post. After he shared a link inviting users to the Google AI Mode search experience, one person responded that it “must be the default,” calling the situation Google’s potential “Kodak moment” if they don’t act fast. Kilpatrick’s brief but significant response to that user was simply, “soon : )”

That little smiley face might have just confirmed what many of us have been wondering: Google is getting ready to make AI Mode the main way we search. Right now, you have to manually switch to the Google AI Mode tab. And most people probably don’t even know it exists.

But once it becomes the default, everything changes. And honestly, I’m worried about what that means for publishers.

Here’s the thing about AI Mode – it’s basically Google’s version of ChatGPT built right into search. Instead of getting a list of blue links, you get direct answers and summaries. It’s convenient, sure, but it creates a massive problem for websites that rely on search traffic.

The numbers are already pretty scary. The Financial Times saw a “pretty sudden and sustained” decline of 25% to 30% in traffic from search engines. Even worse, the Daily Mail’s owner revealed that AI Overviews have caused click-through traffic to drop by as much as 89% to some of their sites, as reported by The Guardian earlier today.

I keep thinking about all those helpful websites that teach you how to fix things, cook recipes, or solve everyday problems. Why would anyone click through to read a full tutorial when Google’s AI can just tell you the steps right there in the search results? It’s like having a really smart friend who read the article for you and gave you the summary.

Google keeps saying their AI features don’t hurt website traffic. They claim it actually makes people search more and engage better. But publishers aren’t buying it, and frankly, neither am I. The data publishers report clearly tells a different story.

This whole situation feels backwards, as I ranted about a few months ago on our sister site. Google built its empire by connecting people to websites. They made money by taking a cut when people clicked on ads. Now they’re answering questions directly, which means fewer clicks to the actual websites. They’re essentially cutting out the very publishers who made Google useful in the first place.

ChatGPT’s 700 million users are definitely pushing Google to move faster. Competition is good, but not when it comes at the expense of a large part of the internet ecosystem. Google’s algorithm changes in 2023 already hurt news sites and publishers badly – Turkey’s Gazete Duvar actually went bankrupt partly because of lost search traffic. PiunikaWeb is also no stranger to Google’s algorithm changes, which have left a major impact on us. My concerns here are based on firsthand experience, not fairy tales from a book.

Making AI Mode the default could make this problem much worse. Sure, users love getting instant answers without clicking around. But someone has to create that content in the first place. If publishers can’t make money from their articles because Google’s AI is summarizing everything, who’s going to keep writing helpful guides and tutorials?

Kilpatrick’s casual “soon” suggests this decision is already made. Google isn’t asking if they should do this – they’re just figuring out when. I just hope they find a way to keep sending traffic to the publishers who actually create the content that makes AI answers possible.

Because without them, even the smartest AI won’t have much to summarize.