According to the report, Google’s traditional search service will remain free and the AI generative search experience will be added to its premium subscription services, which already offer access to Gemini Advanced and AI-based tools. AI for services like Gmail and Docs. However, it is likely that the company will show ads in search results regardless of subscription.
In a statement to the Financial Times, Google said: “Through our experiments with generative AI in search, we have already answered billions of queries and are seeing positive growth in search queries across all our major markets. We continue to rapidly improve the product to meet new user needs. However, the company added that there are currently no new announcements from it.
Additionally, the company said it is “not working on or considering” making search ad-free and will “continue to build new premium features and services to enhance our subscription offerings on Google.”
Google launched the AI-based EMS in August last year and it has since remained available to users as an optional experience in Google’s Search Lab. When enabled, SGE provides relevant information upfront on the search page, instead of displaying links to multiple websites that may contain information related to search queries and keywords. It generates an AI-powered overview of key information along with relevant links pointing to the source of the information.
 "Generative Google Search Experience")
Generative Google Search Experience
The report states that this type of search experience, which includes an AI-driven overview, costs Google more because generative AI consumes significantly more computing resources. Additionally, many online publishers who rely on Google for traffic to their websites have expressed concern as they expect fewer visitors due to the information presented directly in search results. Making SGE exclusive to the paid tier could solve both of these problems for Google.
First publication: April 4, 2024 | 12:10 p.m. STI
