Google Search may no longer be completely free

Google, the tech giant synonymous with online search, may be considering a fundamental change to its business model.according to financial times According to the report, the company is exploring ways to offer premium AI-powered features within its core search product for a fee.

According to the report, people familiar with Google’s plans say these advanced AI-powered search features could become part of Google’s existing subscription services, such as Gemini Advanced and Google One. It is said to be suggesting. Specifically, the report shows that Google Search’s premium tier will still include ads, while the classic version will continue to be free to use.

This potential transformation appears to stem from Google having to balance two priorities. It’s about integrating cutting-edge AI into the search experience, while protecting the lucrative search advertising that forms its financial backbone. The company’s search-related ad revenue last year was a staggering $175 billion, highlighting just how big the stakes are. Meanwhile, the meteoric rise of OpenAI’s ChatGPT has forced Google into a race for AI supremacy.

Last May, Google began testing an AI-powered search service known as Search Generative Experience (SGE). In addition to displaying traditional links and ads, SGE provides AI-powered summaries and responses to queries. The SGE experience was purely opt-in until recently, when Google began testing it as the default experience for a limited number of users. However, the company has been slow to incorporate these SGE features into its main search engine, likely due to the high computational costs associated with generative AI models.

While SGE offers potential benefits to users, it also calls into question the foundations of Google’s current business model. If AI can provide comprehensive answers, users will click fewer links on websites, resulting in fewer ad impressions and potentially jeopardizing Google’s main revenue stream.

The report further claims that Google engineers are already developing the technology, but the final decision and launch schedule remains unclear. Would you pay for a better Google search experience? Let us know in the comments below.