Google has updated AI search for consumers and advertisers.
The tech giant revealed on October 3 that users can now ask Google to search for an answer by taking a video with Google Lens in the Google app. Google also introduced voice to Lens. Users can point the camera, hold the shutter button, and ask a question.
Starting this week, U.S. consumers will also see AI-curated search results. It will start with meals and recipes on mobile. For advertisers, Google AI Insights will now offer ads for relevant queries to help consumers find and connect with relevant businesses, products and services.
Google also provides consumers with key information in reviews, with price comparisons and where to buy. This is now available on Android and iOS devices in select countries.
Google said the new features allow advertisers to quickly connect with motivated sellers.
An expected update
The generative AI updates come as many consumers have mixed opinions about generative AI search, while advertisers and marketers have long awaited changes in AI insights.
“This news was inevitable and continues Google’s trend of developing conversational trends at the expense of traditional search,” said Nikhil Lai, an analyst at Forrester Research. “Advertisers are shrugging their shoulders and adapting to this form of monetized search behavior, but consumers haven’t caught up as quickly.”
He added that, according to research from Forrester Research, many consumers have little trust in AI technology, believe it is biased, or have not heard about AI previews.
Meanwhile, advertisers know that Google’s core business is search and advertising. The most obvious way for Google to monetize AI insights is through sponsored links, he continued.
“What we’re seeing is that overall query volume is increasing on Google, Reddit, TikTok, Bing (and) Perplexity. But neither engine is taking share from the other,” Lai said.
Google is trying to catch up
However, Google still takes seriously competitors like Perplexity and OpenAI, which are testing a Search for the GPT prototype.
“The fact that they are bothering to continue releasing new features – to add ads into the AI Overviews experience – suggests that in the long run, they still feel like perhaps the biggest threat to their position current search giant of the world… is generative AI,” said Damian Rollison, director of market research at SOCi, an AI marketing technology provider.
Advertisers are shrugging and adapting to this form of monetizing search behavior, but consumers haven’t caught up as quickly.
Nikhil LaiAnalyst, Forrester Research
Google, with its recent advancements in search, also appears to be following what its competitor Microsoft has done with its Bing browser. Bing first had AI-enabled search, then AI ads in search, Rollison noted.
At the start of the mass-market era of generative AI, with the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, it looked like Google might lose its dominance in search. Many have criticized the AI vendor for not moving as quickly as Microsoft in integrating the technology into search.
Some expected ChatGPT to replace Google Search.
However, it hasn’t worked out that way yet. Despite the efforts of OpenAI, with SearchGPT, and even Perplexity, to draw users away from Google, Google has retained its leadership in search. But he lost a little ground. Even though social media giant TikTok’s ads have grown in popularity, all of Google’s competitors are still far from taking away significant market share.
Esther Ajao is a news editor at TechTarget and host of podcasts covering artificial intelligence software and systems.
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