The proposal would mark the first time Google has charged for any of its core products and shows how it feels threatened in its advertising business, nearly a year and a half after the launch of ChatGPT.
Google began testing an AI-powered search service in May last year, offering more detailed answers to queries. Photo: FT
Google is considering options that include adding some AI-powered search features to its premium subscription services, like the one that provides access to its new Gemini AI assistant in Gmail and Docs, according to three people familiar with Google's plans.
Engineers are developing the technology needed to roll out the service, but executives have not yet made a final decision on whether or when to launch it, one of the people said.
Google's traditional search engine will remain free, while ads will continue to appear alongside search results even for subscribers.
But charging would be the first time Google — which for years offered a free consumer service funded entirely by advertising — would make people pay for its core search service.
Google reported $175 billion in revenue from search and advertising last year, but is facing a competitive threat from the explosion of AI, which could determine the future of search in just a few years.
Since November 2022, when OpenAI launched ChatGPT, Google has been working to respond to the competitive threat posed by the wildly popular chatbot. ChatGPT can provide quick and comprehensive answers to many questions, rendering Google’s traditional search engines redundant and thereby undermining its advertising revenue.
Microsoft, which has a close partnership with OpenAI, introduced improved AI-based search and a chatbot — now called Copilot — into its Bing search engine more than a year ago. But its new AI features have yet to boost Bing’s market share, which still lags far behind Google.
Some analysts have warned that Google's advertising business could suffer if its AI search engine provides complete answers that no longer require users to visit an advertiser's website.
In particular, many media and press organizations that depend on Google for "views" are concerned that fewer users will access them if Google's AI search feature extracts all information from news sites and displays it directly to users in the results display panel.
Hoang Hai (according to FT)
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