Google is killing the internet

@bloombergopinion

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Why it worked

The video taps into a prevalent concern about the future of the internet and the impact of AI, using a provocative title and relatable examples to explain a complex issue. The "dead internet theory" provides a compelling narrative hook.

Summary

This video discusses how Google's integration of AI answers into its search results is potentially harming the internet by reducing traffic to human-created websites. The "dead internet theory" is explored, suggesting that AI-generated content is becoming more prevalent than human-generated content, and this shift could lead to a less useful and original internet.

Structure

1Introduction: Google is killing the internet for its AI products
2The rise of AI bots and the 'dead internet theory'
3Google's historical bargain with website creators
4The shift to AI answers in Google search
5Criticism from Cloudflare CEO on Google's advantage
6Consequences for publishers and the economic incentive
7Google's proposed solution and a better remedy

Product placement

Google (company): appears as a building exterior, and its search engine interface is shown and discussed. Removing it would change the video's topic. It acts as the primary subject of the video's criticism. Getty Images (company): appears as a watermark in the corner of several shots. Removing it would not change what happens in the video. Cloudflare (company): mentioned as a source and its CEO is quoted. Removing it would change the video's topic. ChatGPT (product): mentioned as a comparison point for AI traffic. Removing it would not change the video's topic. Microsoft (company): logo appears briefly. Removing it would not change what happens in the video.

Original caption

Google’s strategy of using its search infrastructure to strengthen its own AI products has largely flown under the radar. But the technique gives the company an unfair advantage over other AI firms while also accelerating the rise of automated traffic on the internet at the expense of humans, says Parmy Olson. #deadinternettheory #openai #airace

More from @bloombergopinion

On-screen text

B Opinion Google is killing the internet to benefit its own AI product. Getty Images Source: Cloudflare 57.4 42.6 AI bots generated more web traffic than humans this year. Search: deadinternetttheory dead internet The dead Internet theory Dead Internet theory. So it turns out the dead internet theory was kind of right on the takeover of machines. Parmy Olson Tech columnist and author of Supremacy what's going on, we have to go back to how Google fundamentally works. Getty Images Google became the king of internet search by striking a very clever bargain with anyone who made a website: Let it "crawl" - or download and collect - and it would send readers back to you. But that trade looks very different now that Google is putting AI answers directly into its search results. Getty Images Source: Cloudflare 3.2x 4.8x Google's crawler which collects content for both its AI answers and traditional search results also sees way more content than the likes of ChatGPT. That gives it an unfair advantage in powering its AI search features. The CEO of Cloudflare Matthew Prince Chief executive officer of Cloudflare which is a traffic gatekeeper for about a fifth of the web has criticized Google for grouping these systems together. He says that makes it difficult for publishers to block their content from being used in Google's AI answers that's drawing people away from those websites. But there are also broader consequences. If AI increasingly reads summarizes, and rewrites without sending readers back to the pages that were originally created by humans then the economic incentive to make that original information starts to fade. Google confirmed to me that it is testing a way to let opt out of AI answers without hurting their search rankings. That way, people might actually click on their links. But a better remedy would be to fully separate Google's crawler into two: One for AI answers and one for traditional search results. There's nothing wrong with having lots of bots doing lots of useful things across the web but if humans aren't properly rewarded for their contribution then the internet will become a less useful, less original and ultimately vapid place to browse and nobody wants that.