Google Seriously Needs to Chill.
Google can NOT just give you a direct answer to your search – It's a business catastrophe.
It would be amazing to just google something and find the right answer instantly. Sometimes it happens with snippets if you’re lucky.
Although, based on my experience, it’s not always accurate. I’d still open the link to confirm as sometimes Google just takes a small part of the sentence. That’s if you’re interested in something minor like eating avocados. But what if you’re interested in something more commercial like hiring a designer?
Your best-case scenario is a couple of sponsored ads. These sponsored ads that you despise are more-or-less what makes Google their $305 billion of ad revenue. But let’s say you’re past that. You’re just so good at “designing logos” and you’re the go-to website like Canva, which just has very good search engine optimization due to the fact that it’s actually good.
Then you’re a correct answer to my search. But not THE correct answer. The concept of Googling is to explore, not to get an instant answer. Many articles came out stating that ChatGPT or Perplexity would take on Google Search. There’s a flaw in that.
I don’t need you to tell me how to create a logo. I need to get it done.
ChatGPT is at least helping out a bit. But the resulting logos are just catastrophic, and no, it won’t get better in time as design is always subjective.
Searching — The Right Way
Here’s the right flow:
I need to create a logo.
Show me some designs and pricing.
Show me online tools that do that with AI.
Show me some recommendations from experts.
Let me choose.
Some would choose AI; others would choose a Fiverr freelancer. That’s the world of internet search. Now, the company’s statement — “Google will be doing the searching for you,” is severely flawed because every search has a different human being with a different motive that they can never predict. It’s not just an intent: “Commercial, Transactional, Informational, etc.”
Googling as a behavior is unpredictable. Heck, I sometimes Google things without knowing my intent.
But that’s not the real catastrophic flaw. Google “doing the searching for you” creates a new sort of monopoly. Google has always been the world’s biggest billboard, where the highest bidder could just pin their ad. But if they change this process, then they’ll be in control of what to place, which is contradictory to the concept of a free Internet world.
I don’t want Gemini to display Fiverr. I don’t want Gemini to display Canva. I was at peace with it, knowing that they were the highest bidders. We both know that it’s an “ad,” which makes it somewhat acceptable. I’ll just keep scrolling.
But if you’re diverting traffic from those who are starting, like a new human designer on the block, then how are they ever going to grow online (which is apparently the only way in our current times.)
My startup has been writing content on our website for over two years. We’re getting more clicks on a daily basis, which I’m very proud of.
Now, technically, Google is saying that they’ll decide who’ll be on top, and if their LLMs have already learned the information I’m trying to convey with my tone, then I’m dispensable.
The Catastrophic Flaw
If I see a drop in my clicks in the upcoming 5 years, with absolutely no traffic growth from Google, then why would I keep writing there? Why wouldn’t I write on other websites, and only other websites, like Medium, Instagram, and LinkedIn, the ones that have a bit of traffic because people are already visiting them? Why would I ever write to teach Google’s AI with no benefit for me whatsoever?
I’m a small piece of this world. But there are over 1.09 billion websites on the internet (2024). If you’re the sole information provider and the know-it-all, then not only is this not going to work out, but the human behavior of people like me will start looking for a Google alternative.
An AI freak-out is leading the world’s largest search engine to kill itself before others have the chance. The only flaw is that others never had the chance in the first place.
There was never a code red.
ChatGPT was never a challenge.
Perplexity is a cool tool. But it’s not a search engine.
I’m sure Google will roll out Gemini in search and try it out. So, it’s not definite that the search engine world has changed. But this small announcement has already freaked out the people on the other end of the line.
Sundar, take a chill pill.
Yours truly,
1 out of 1,090,000,000 websites.
