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If you happened to tune in to the Google I/O 2024 Keynote yesterday, you (like me and many others) probably felt a bit overwhelmed and bombarded by the constant, unending references to Gemini – Google’s main AI platform. It’s everywhere, will be everywhere, and is likely going to be interwoven into every portion of Google’s portfolio for the forseeable future.
I understand that and for better or worse, we’re in the age of AI right now. It’s the new, shiny thing that the entire tech industry is buzzing about and there are some mind-blowing applications of it all over the place. Letting AI help you finish or organize an email, plan a trip, mock up a website, or a whole host of other things is not only fine: it’s pretty magical at the moment.
Chicken and egg problem
But AI in Google’s core search product feels a bit shoehorned and silly. And its the type of thing that could cause a loop that Google can ill afford. When Gemini kicks in at the top of your search results page, it takes up the most precious area that Google has to offer. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it is flat out wrong, and other times it is just in the way.
But for creators (like us), this just means less visits to websites. And that means less revenue. And that means budget cuts. Especially for smaller creators, this isn’t sustainable. It’s been pretty atrocious so far for us here at Chrome Unboxed, and from the looks of it, it won’t get better anytime soon. When Google’s own AI is scraping content and delivering answers to potential visitors without them needing to come to the original content’s site, there’s a pretty big problem.
When views go down, audience declines, and revenue falters, many sites can’t sustain and stay afloat. We all have to feed our kids, so tough decisions have to be made and unfortunately, for some sites, that has means shutting the doors. This is not what Google needs to happen.
The more we see content-driven sites shut down and go away, the less current (and quality) info there will be for AI to utilize to answer questions or make recommendations. Sure, that Gemini-driven answer at the top of search is handy sometimes, but it comes at a deep cost. And in the long run, if Google shoves the small creators to the side, the web in general is going to be an odd, unreliable place to be in a short period of time.
Google’s latest fix feels like a joke
So what is Google to do? Put the AI results behind a filter or a toggle? Push it down the page a bit so the best web content can still be seen? Nah, instead, their plan is to put a new “Web Filter” in place that will just show the good old website links like we used to see.
Before snippets and carousels and featured sections and shopping, Google used to just deliver up the thing you were searching for via sites that matched your query. While all the things Google has added to search result pages over time can sometimes be helpful, the truth is they have served only to keep you in Google’s system for longer and on other websites less. And SGE (search generative experience) is the worst version of this yet.
It seems that moving forward, SGE will be foisted on us all, and to give users what most of us actually want, they have put in a new filter (like news, shopping, images, videos, etc.) simply called “Web.” And, as it rolls out over the next few days, it will let you see your search results without all the other, extra stuff Google has crammed in over the years. Sounds great, right? Well, it would be pretty awesome if it was the first, second or third filter shown to users. But it most definitely is not.
In the announcement tweet from yesterday, the photo above was included. Yes, a new web filter is on the way. But also yes, it is buried in the overflow menu. So much so that Google had to add some arrows so you know where to hunt for it. And I’d be willing to bet that you can count on one hand the number of times you’ve made those few extra clicks to see what’s in the More menu. I know it’s a rare thing for me to do.
So, while Google has come up with a workable solution for both its users and content creators, it looks to be burying it out of sight. And it just feels a bit like a slap in the face. They know general users aren’t going to dig through the filters most of the time, so even though this is a reasonable solution, they are still unwilling to make it prominent.
I think the Web filter is an important enough toggle in Google search that it should reside right next to the “All” filter for all searches, all the time. I’ve seen so many comments from all over the web that most people just want the standard Google search back for most queries. I get that Google wants to put its shiny, new search toys right up top, but they need to also realize most of us simply want to find something out on the web that isn’t being handheld by Google. A solution to do just that is coming, but you’re going to have to work for it, I suppose.
