Will Google make its search engine a PAID service?
Disclaimer: we’re not big fans of clickbait at Informer, but some news comes so unexpected and eyebrow-raising, there’s really nothing else to be done, any title would be clickbait-ish. Case in point – Google really is considering (according to FT) asking you to pony up for the searches it does following your requests. But the company is only thinking about introducing paid plans for those who really like how AI does this job.
You have probably heard of Google’s Search Generative Experience experiment, which was recently extended beyond sandbox where only those who agreed to participate could use it. The idea of paid search feels like a continuation of that experiment, and the leak may well be intentional, too, seeking to gauge the reaction of the general public.
This move, if realized, will be a first for the company that sets trends in the search market. Currently, Google search is a fully ad-supported deal, and there have never been an attempt to change that. While there are no specifics about implementation of the idea, and it’s probably a customer intelligence exercise essentially, we still expect other players to announce something of the kind, or respond to the initiative in some other way.
What can the future of search look like?
We may see some sort of fragmentation there: for most people, Google and other search engines will remain largely as they are now, serving lists of links to relative pages in response to queries, plus excerpts therefrom, some brief insights, etc. For power users, though, there may appear special versions of AI-powered search machines that extend queries on their own and weave extensive pictures even before such users formulate a string of questions to get all of the info they’re after. The latter will likely be paid, and that actually feels quite natural. Need it to go the extra mile? Be ready to give it an extra dime.
