For many years, Google Search has been the gateway to the internet. If you want to know something, you will straight away go to Google Search and search for the relevant information. That information will come from different blogs, different news magazines, or from many other useful websites. That was the beauty of it — every search opened a door to a different corner of the internet, written by real people with real experiences.
But now, that is slowly changing. The rise of AI-powered search and AI-generated summaries is quietly transforming Google from a search engine into an answer engine. And if you are wondering what that means — a search engine used to point you toward many sources so you could explore and decide for yourself. An answer engine just gives you one result and expects you to trust it. That shift, as small as it sounds, will slowly destroy the beauty of the search ecosystem.
Now if you go and search for anything, for example, a good shoe or a good watch — before, it would show different websites you could go through, read about, and choose from. But now it will give you a dedicated answer first. If you are convinced with the very first answer, you will directly go and buy the shoe and you will not check anything, as it seems convenient. And yes, studies on zero-click searches by researchers like Rand Fishkin at SparkToro have shown that more and more users never even leave Google anymore — the traffic that once kept independent websites alive is simply disappearing.
Some people might say — “but AI search is faster and more convenient, why is that a problem?” And honestly, the convenience is real. But the hidden cost is that the open web — the ecosystem of diverse voices, independent bloggers, small news sites, and honest reviews — slowly dies when no one visits it anymore. And yes, Google still shows websites below the AI answer, but the reality is that most users never scroll past that first result. The click-through rate data makes it clear — if the AI answer feels complete, the websites below it become invisible.
Take the same scenario — what if one big shoe company spends some amount with Google and makes the results in their favour to show their products only — then what will happen? It will go to the highest bidder to favour the company in the search and fool the users. What that means for you directly is that you could be making a purchase decision based on a result that was never neutral to begin with — you never even got the chance to compare. Organisations like Mozilla and the EFF have already raised serious concerns about this kind of search monopoly and how it puts users at risk without them even realising it.
And also, if you are searching for any critical information about an incident or anything, what if the answer gives you misinformation? It will lead to various consequences on society.
Then how can you support the community? You can open the website directly in the browser and also don’t depend on the AI-summarized answer. Look for different websites and different opinions so the dying open search will be saved.
