Google Tests AI-Only Search Engine, Replacing Traditional Links
Google has unveiled an experimental version of its search engine that completely removes the classic ten blue links, opting instead for an AI-generated summary. This new feature is currently accessible to subscribers of Google One AI Premium.
The ‘AI Mode’ can be activated on the results page for any search query via a tab located next to options like ‘Images’ and ‘Maps.’
“We’ve heard from power users that they want AI responses for even more of their searches,” Robby Stein, a vice president of product, explained in a blog post.
Google One AI Premium is a subscription plan, priced at $19.99 per month, that provides additional cloud storage and exclusive access to specific AI features.
Currently, Google displays AI Overviews – summaries that are appearing more frequently at the top of search results – for users in over 100 countries. The company began incorporating advertisements into AI Overviews last May.
With AI Mode, users are presented with a more comprehensive AI summary that includes hyperlinks to cited webpages. The traditional ten blue links have been replaced by a search bar enabling users to ask follow-up questions.
Google stated that AI Mode is powered by a customized version of its Gemini 2.0 model, equipped with enhanced reasoning capabilities to manage intricate queries.
Alphabet’s revenue in 2024, which reached $350 billion, was largely generated by search-related advertising. However, the company confronts its most significant challenge to its core business in recent years, stemming from AI competitors such as OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, which integrated search functionalities to ChatGPT last October.
Ruth Porat, chief investment officer at Google, noted at the Reuters NEXT conference in December that integrating AI into its search capabilities represents Google’s greatest investment.
The edtech firm Chegg filed a lawsuit against Google in February, alleging that the AI previews have reduced demand for original content, impairing the ability of publishers to compete.
Reporting by Kenrick Cai, San Francisco; Editing by Edwina Gibbs
