What is Google even for anymore?
Somewhere between asking Google's new advanced AI to explain, in detail, how to become an expert birdwatcher in my neighborhood and using Google's new AI moviemaking tool to create cartoons of my 4-pound Chihuahua fighting crime, I realized something. Either Google is having a midlife crisis or I am. It could be both.
User Friendly
A weekly dispatch to make sure tech is working for you, instead of overwhelming you. From senior technology correspondent Adam Clark Estes. Email (required)
Sign Up
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
I've spent the past week tinkering with Google's new AI tools, and I can confidently say the company is somewhere between crisis and glory. It may take years before we know which path wins.
Google has dominated not only the way we use the web but also the web's very existence for the last 15 years, mainly through its search and advertising divisions. As AI encroaches on every corner of our digital experience, it's not clear which company will dominate the next era or how we'll interact with it. It almost certainly won't be by typing keywords into a search engine.
To find something online today, you typically type some keywords into Google, pick a blue link that you think has the information you're after, and click. Companies bid on search terms in order to get their ads in front of people browsing the web, powering Google's multibillion-dollar advertising business. Your click helps publishers, including Vox, make money from ads they host on their sites, many of which Google manages. Google is dominant enough that two federal judges recently ruled that it's operating as an illegal monopoly, and the company is currently waiting to see if it will be broken up.
As AI encroaches on every corner of our digital experience, it's not clear which company will dominate the next era or how we'll interact with it.
The government might not be the biggest threat to Google dominance, however. AI has been chipping away at the foundation of the web in the past couple of years, as people have increasingly turned to tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity to find information online. These AI chatbots pull information from websites and present you with a tidy summary. This has become a real enough threat to Google that the number of Google searches in Safari fell for the first time ever in April. Google also recently saw its share of the search market dip below 90 percent for the first time in a decade, as AI search takes off. TikTok isn't helping either.
Google recognized this inevitability a few years ago and has been trying to reinvent itself accordingly. A couple years ago, it rolled out AI Overviews, which are summaries of search results created by Google's large language model, Gemini. Then Google expanded on that concept earlier this year with AI Mode, a chatbot-based search experience also powered by Gemini that looks an awful lot like ChatGPT and Perplexity. The company announced last week that AI Mode will be rolling out to everyone in the United States in the coming weeks — just look for a sparkly button on the righthand side of the search field that says 'AI Mode.'
AI Mode is how I've been trying to learn birding for the past week. Instead of plugging keywords into the old Google search box, I've been entering complex queries and getting back detailed reports. From one three-sentence prompt, AI Mode returned nearly 600 words. There were just nine links to sources, none of which I needed to click, since the chatbot had already summarized the content therein. Only by doing a little bit of digging did I realize that one of the main sources for this summary was a beginner's guide to birdwatching written by my Vox colleague Allie Volpe.
This search experience, as is the case with other AI chatbots, is not always awesome. The technology is powered by large language models, which are prone to hallucinations, and so these new search tools tend to be unreliable. Then again, because AI tends to write such convincing copy, you're not always compelled to double-check the results. Publishers are seeing huge declines in traffic from Google as more people bypass the web and ask AI chatbots for information. As I learned from my birding research, it's quicker. And let's be honest, not everything you find from clicking a blue link is 100 percent accurate either.
This is probably what the future of search looks like, and no, it almost certainly won't involve a list of blue links.
It's unnerving for me to admit that I like the new Google. And I expect to see a lot more of it. As part of its blitz of AI announcements, Google also rolled out Gemini in Chrome, which lets the AI assistant see what you're seeing on a website. (It's currently only available for people who subscribe to Google AI Plus or AI Ultra plans or for people running beta versions of Chrome.) You can ask questions about what's on the page or ask Gemini to summarize an article. The tool can even analyze YouTube videos in real time. You can almost think of this as a more targeted version of what the new AI Mode search experience does for the entire web, and it seems useful.
This is probably what the future of search looks like, and no, it almost certainly won't involve a list of blue links. While you'll undoubtedly be able to access the traditional search experience for quite some time, the sheer volume of Google's latest announcements suggests that AI everything is where we're headed. Headlines around that news echoed the gravity of it all. Reporting from Google's developer conference, Platformer's Casey Newton said, 'everything is changing and normal and scary and chill.' Tech analyst Ben Thompson declared 'the death of the ad-supported web,' thanks to Google. New York magazine's John Herrman put it more bluntly: 'Google is burying the web alive.'
In the chaotic, early days of the web, Google got popular by simplifying the intimidating task of finding things online, as the Washington Post's Geoffrey A. Fowler points out. Its supremacy in this new AI-powered future is far less certain. Maybe another startup will come along and simplify things this time around, so you can have a user-friendly bot explain things to you, book travel for you, and make movies for you.
In the meantime, I'll be trying to perfect my AI-generated crime-fighting Chihuahua cartoon, wondering when any of this will start to feel glorious.
A version of this story was also published in the User Friendly newsletter. Sign up here so you don't miss the next one!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time Business News
27 minutes ago
- Time Business News
How LLMs Are Reshaping SEO: What You Need to Know in 2025
Search engine optimization (SEO) is undergoing its biggest shift since the dawn of Google itself. With the rise of Large Language Models (LLMs)—like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Meta's Llama—the way users interact with search engines is rapidly evolving. These AI tools are no longer just assistants; they are becoming alternate destinations for information. So where does this leave traditional SEO? If you're navigating the ever-changing search landscape, it's critical to understand how LLMs are influencing both user behavior and Google's search algorithms. For anyone serious about staying ahead of the curve, tapping into insights from the seo bazooka blog is a smart way to keep strategies sharp. Google has responded to the growing influence of LLMs with changes to its search engine results pages (SERPs). Features like Search Generative Experience (SGE) are currently being tested and rolled out, which use AI-generated summaries instead of relying solely on traditional snippets and featured links. That means SEO isn't just about ranking on Page 1 anymore. It's about being referenced in the AI-generated content itself. And that brings with it a new wave of optimization challenges: Writing content that is AI-friendly and structured clearly for machine parsing Making information context-rich so it's favored by LLM summarization Structuring FAQs, lists, and bullet points for maximum semantic clarity Many users now start their journey directly in an LLM interface instead of Google. This shift is changing how search intent works. Instead of entering short, fragmented keywords, people are typing long, conversational questions. To remain visible: Web content must now mimic the natural language LLMs respond to. Schema markup and structured data are more relevant than ever. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust) is no longer just a guideline—it's a survival tactic. Smart marketers are already adapting. They're not ditching SEO—they're refining it. Here's how: Topic Clusters Instead of Keywords : Content should answer full topical questions in depth, not just target a specific phrase. : Content should answer full topical questions in depth, not just target a specific phrase. AI-Optimized Content Planning : Use AI tools to map user questions, then write human-first responses. : Use AI tools to map user questions, then write human-first responses. Zero-Click Optimization: Aim to be the source that LLMs draw from when generating summaries. Brands like SEO Bazooka are leading this transformation by offering sharp, actionable strategies that integrate traditional search tactics with AI-centric methodologies. Algorithms are adapting almost monthly now. What worked in early 2024 could be penalized in 2025. The seo bazooka blog offers updated strategies, including how to optimize for both human readers and LLMs, how to handle AI-generated snippets, and how to identify what search engines are really rewarding. This is no longer about just backlinks and meta tags. It's about being the best data source —one that both humans and AI trust. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Tom's Guide
42 minutes ago
- Tom's Guide
Google Pixel Buds 2a leak tells us new color options — and a surprise option for the Pro 2
As rumors swirl around a potential mid-year launch for new Pixel 10 phones, we get a small glimpse into the future of the Pixel buds lineup. It's been a good 4 years or so since we saw a pair of a series buds come from Google, although it looks like the wait for budget buds is soon coming to an end. It's an early leak and one that's pretty barebones, but X user Arsène Lupin has given us an idea of what colors to expect the so-called "Pixel Buds 2a" to come in. Google Pixel Buds 2aHazel, Strawberry, Iris, Fog LightJuly 3, 2025 So there's not much to go on here — no technical details, no images and no launch date. Just a list of colors. Apparently, we'll be getting the Google Pixel Buds 2a in "Hazel, Strawberry, Iris, Fog Light." Those are completely different from the current lineup of colors of the Pixel Buds A-Series — Sea, Dark Olive, Clearly White and Charcoal — although Hazel is shared by the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2. It's a dark brown, if you're wondering. What will the other colors look like? Iris and Fog Light sound pretty nebulous, but Strawberry is almost certainly going to be some kind of pink or red. As for the price or release date? No clue. Lupin tends to leak stuff closer to release, mind you, so it's likely we're looking at something coming fairly soon. There was another leak as well — for another color. According to the same leaker in another X post, we're going to see the Pixel Buds Pro 2 come out in a color called "Sterling." That sounds like a silver to me, although I'm colorblind so I could be completely off base. Either way, we're looking at some potential new earbuds and a new color for an older pair. I'm excited to see where the Pixel Buds 2a land on our list of best earbuds, once we've got them in for testing. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
New Windows Security Bypass Alert For Chrome And Edge Users
Chrome and Edge browser Windows security bypass uncovered. It is no secret that Google's Chrome browser is beseiged by security vulnerabilities. The good news is that the vast majority of these vulnerabilities are discovered and disclosed by security researchers, including Google's own Threat Analysis Group, well before any attacker can exploit them. However, that's not always the case, as evidenced by numerous emergency browser security updates in response to confirmed zero-day vulnerabilities. What is less well known, especially amongst the large non-techie user base, is that Edge is built around the Chromium engine, so many of the same vulnerabilities impact it, and them. Given that another security issue has just emerged, and both Chrome and Edge users are at risk from it, in this case, a Windows security protection bypass, you might be asking if it is time to quit using both and find something else. Here's what you need to know. The FileFix Windows Security Issue Putting Chrome And Edge Users At Risk I first warned Forbes readers of the threat from something called a ClickFix attack in December 2024, and more recently reiterated that warning after Google issued a security alert in a new threat, called FileFix, has been discovered, and it's coming for your Chrome and Edge browsers if you are a Windows user. Penetration tester and security researcher, mr.d0x, first discovered FileFix on June 23, but has now published details of a new variation that is of concern to all Windows browser users. This new attack threat exploits the way that both Chrome and Edge deal with saving web pages, and can bypass the Microsoft Windows security feature known as Mark of the Web. It does this by bringing together those browser web page saving methods and something known as HTML Application execution. In other words, FileFix can now bypass the Windows MotW security function by exploiting the way in which browsers save HTML pages. The good news is that to pull off this latest FileFix exploit, an attacker would first need to persuade the victim into saving an HTML web page and then renaming it as an .HTA file in order to auto-execute the embedded JScript that does the actual damage. If that all sounds a little long-winded, that's because it is. However, don't be fooled, social engineering, or phishing if you prefer, can persuade normally sensible people into doing the most unlikely of things. The original ClickFix attacks, for example, asked users who were presented with a fake captcha test to open a Windows run dialog and enter commands to execute the exploit. That sounds unlikely, right? Yet enough people did just that for ClickFix to make the headlines and for the biggest of vendors to issue warnings to users. Is It Time For Windows Users To Abandon Chrome And Edge? The short answer to the question posed in the above sub-heading is: is it heck as like. For those of you not living in the Yorkshire countryside in England, that means no. The continuing deluge of vulnerabilities that impact Chrome and Edge and are disclosed month after month, sometimes week after week, is a good thing. How so? Because, for the most part, these vulnerabilities are being discovered before threat actors know about them, and browsers are updated to protect against them before they can attack. The odd few zero-days that emerge are dealt with as quickly as they can be. The point is, it's better the devil you know when it comes to security vulnerabilities. There are plenty of other reasons why you might want to change, those based around privacy concerns or dislike of certain vendors, but security vulnerability exposure isn't on my list. I have reached out to Google and Microsoft regarding the latest FileFix exploit affecting Windows users.
