Google could put premium tier AI searches behind a paywall
GOOGLE is considering charging for artificial intelligence (Ai)-powered search in what would be the biggest shake-up of its business model ever.
The search giant, which is owned by Alphabet, has never before put any of its core products behind a paywall.
However, bosses are considering charging for new “premium” search features powered by AI, according to the Financial Times.
The company is grappling with how to capitalise on the AI revolution in technology without threatening its advertising-funded business model.
There are fears that AI chatbots will undercut search engines such as Google by allowing people to ask for the information they require rather than searching for it. This would cut Google out of the equation and deny it the valuable data it collects from users.
Executives are reportedly weighing up whether to put Ai-powered search features behind a paywall in a way that would allow it to take advantage of the new tech without competing with its core search engine.
Alphabet is looking at putting AI search into its premium subscription services, which offer access to its new Gemini AI assistant in Gmail and Docs.
Engineers are reportedly developing the functionality needed for the changes, but executives have not made a decision on whether or when to launch the plan. Under the plans, Google’s search engine would remain free. In the meantime, the company has begun testing Ai-generated “overviews” for search queries in the UK. The tests follow similar trials in the US last year.
A Google spokesman said: “We’re not working on or considering an ad-free search experience. As we’ve done many times before, we’ll continue to build new premium capabilities and services to enhance our subscription offerings across Google.” The spokesman added: “For years, we’ve been reinventing
Search to help people access information in the way that’s most natural to them. With our generative AI experiments in Search, we’ve already served billions of queries and we’re seeing positive Search query growth in all of our major markets.”
Google’s revenue from search and related advertising reached $175bn (£140bn) last year and accounted for more than half of its total sales.
The company was caught out by the huge success of CHATGPT, which has been backed by rival Microsoft.
Google launched its own AI chatbot, Gemini, in response but the technology has been criticised for prioritising diversity and inoffensive answers over accuracy. It was ridiculed earlier this year for generating ethnically diverse images of vikings, popes and knights.
The tech giant suffered further embarrassment when the chatbot claimed it was “difficult to say” whether Adolf Hitler or Elon Musk had had a more negative impact on society.