The transition from search engines to AI-powered answer engines is fundamentally altering the internet's landscape. Google’s search engine acted as a digital map, generating traffic that supported a mutually beneficial contract with content providers. As AI tools increasingly provide direct answers, they reduce the incentive for users to visit original websites. This shift threatens the long-standing business model, as AI answer engines do not promote web traffic, which is essential for revenue generation. Recent data shows significant declines in site referrals across various industries due to this transformation.
"These aren't search engines anymore, they're answer engines. The economics and rules are very different. We have to strike a new deal."
"Answer engines don't drive traffic. Search engines were the engine that drove revenue on the web. If there's no traffic, then the existing ecosystem, based on the current business model, falls apart."
Collection
[
|
...
]