1y ago

Google’s AI search results are already getting ads

www.theverge.com

21 comments

surprised pikachu
Big tech has failed us after we made them rich.
- And who is surprised?
Can we ask the AI to remove/omit the ads?
- LLMs can't even distinguish properly between a fruit with green flesh and red skin vs. green skin and red flesh, and you expect them to distinguish between ads and content?
  
  The ad is the content, from Google's viewpoint.
- Sure! It won’t comply, though.
Looks like a separate element that comes after the LLM summary which can be removed by ad blockers. That is, if you're still using Google search...
- That is, if you’re still using Google search…
  What's a viable alternative? Bing seems to be just as rah rah AI as Google, DDG gives me oranges if I search for apples... if there is an actually useful search engine out there that isn't actively in the process of becoming enshittified, I would absolutely love to know.
  
  ?
  
  searxng
  
  I've been pretty happy with Kagi (it's a paid search engine, though).
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Google only just rolled out AI summaries in search results — and now they’re getting ads.
In an update on Tuesday, Google says it will soon start testing search and shopping ads within AI Overviews for users in the US.
In the example shared by Google, the search engine’s AI overview lists a response to the question: “how do I get wrinkles out of clothes?” Beneath the AI-generated suggestions, there’s a new “Sponsored” section with a carousel showing wrinkle spray you can buy from places like Walmart and Instacart.
Google says it will display ads in AI Overviews when “they’re relevant to both the query and the information in the AI Overview.” Advertisers that already run certain campaigns through Google will automatically become eligible to appear in AI Overviews.
“As we move forward, we’ll continue to test and learn new formats, getting feedback from advertisers and the industry,” Google writes.
There aren’t any details on when exactly Google will start testing ads in AI Overviews, but it kind of defeats the purpose of using AI to get a quick summary of what you’re looking for.
The original article contains 198 words, the summary contains 185 words. Saved 7%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Who still uses Google in 2024?
- [kagi ad here]
  
  I cant believe now even lemmy has ads
Eh who cares? I switched to DDG ages ago.

21 comments