Google says AI is making search better but open internet still stagnating

Google’s vice president of government and policy Markham Erickson told The Verge that users are increasingly choosing AI-powered summaries over traditional “factual answers.”

According to him, the company’s main goal is to maintain a “healthy ecosystem” that combines both AI-powered summaries and the classic “ten blue links” format. Erickson noted that links remain an important part of search, but user preferences are changing, and Google must take this shift into account.

The statements came amid a lawsuit from Penske Media Corporation, the parent company of Rolling Stone. The publisher claims that AI-powered summaries reduce website traffic, which directly affects online media revenues.

In his comments, Erickson avoided details of the lawsuit, but noted that Google is seeking to strike a balance between new search response formats and traditional redirection of users to primary sources.

Meanwhile, the debate over the impact of AI on the development of the Internet continues. During one recent lawsuit, Google admitted that “the open web is in decline,” despite the company’s previous claims to the contrary.