It’s been clear for some time that the “open web” as we’ve known it for years is in a tough spot, but Google has argued the opposite. In a court statement, though, Google’s own case argues that the open web is “in rapid decline.”
Barely a month ago, Google argued that its AI products are not to blame for the widespread traffic declines, saying that total click volume “has been relatively stable” and that “average click quality has increased.” That was in response to a study that showed web traffic was falling with patterns that suggested AI was to blame. Google called the study’s methodology “flawed.”
- Google says AI not causing traffic declines & that it cares more about web’s health than competition
It’s not the first time Google has stood up to argue in favor of the health of the web today, but a statement from an ongoing court case admits that “the open web is in rapid decline,” somewhat contradicting the sentiment of the company’s prior statements.
The full quote (via SE Roundtable) reads:
The fact is that today, the open web is already in rapid decline and Plaintiffs’ divestiture proposal would only accelerate that decline, harming publishers who currently rely on open-web display advertising revenue. As the law makes clear, the last thing a court should do is intervene to reshape an industry that is already in the midst of being reshaped by market forces.
The argument here is that the remedies being proposed by the court in regards to Google’s grasp on the online advertising market would do more harm than good. It suggests that the industry is already going through a significant shift without interference by the DOJ, and that changes enforced by the court could harm “publishers who currently rely on open-web display advertising revenue” which Google provides.
As The Verge points out, this argument is directly contrary to a statement from Google’s Nick Fox, who said in June that “the web is thriving.”
Top comment by Omega192
Barely a month ago, Google argued that its AI products are not to blame for the widespread traffic declines, saying that total click volume “has been relatively stable” and that “average click quality has increased.”
If you'll excuse some devil's advocacy, it's possible this statement can coexist with the more recent one. Up until rather recently, Google's AI products were far from the most popular.
The blame may fall more so onto ChatGPT which arrived first and remains a much more widely used product. I've seen far too many people just blindly trust its responses without doing even the most basic fact checking or checking cited sources when provided.
People used to type their conclusions into a search box and click on some results to share their URL as "proof" those conclusions were correct. But now some are just typing their conclusion into a chat box and copy/pasting the response as that proof instead.
Advocate hat off, that's not to say Google has no role in this as I've also seen plenty of people not bother to check the sources of AI Overview since it's only as reliable as the results it pulls from. I think they have done a poor job explaining that which then led to the "scandals" where the inaccurate or nonsensical info within it could have easily been caught by anyone who checked the sources.
But overall it sure seems SV's favorite mantra of "move fast and break things" might not have been a good long-term strategy after all. Color me surprised.
Google, of course, plays a pivotal role in the open web, with the company’s search engine being not just a useful tool, but a fundamental part of life on the internet for years. Google continues to argue in favor of AI and that it “believe[s] that Search’s value exchange with the web remains strong,” but it’s also clear that something is amiss, and now even Google has acknowledged that.
What do you think of the company’s latest statement?
More on Google:
- Google now lets you set ‘Preferred Sources’ for Top Stories carousel
- Reddit wants to be its own search engine after becoming a popular Google hack
- Google․com/ai now opens Search AI Mode
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