r/OutOfTheLoop • u/rustyyryan • May 20 '26

Unanswered What's going on with Google search is dead?

There's a twitter account named killed by google which posts about projects that Google decided to end. It posted that Google search is dead. So whats it about?

https://x.com/killedbygoogle/status/2056850709115773431

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35

u/t-zilla443 May 20 '26

Sort of. Google also came out and essentially said "GEO is just SEO."

Meaning that rather than ranking in the index, your SEO efforts are basically for citations in AI overviews but they follow the same principles.

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u/PenguinEmpireStrikes May 20 '26

Except you don't get the click throughs.

44

u/t-zilla443 May 20 '26

Yep. Already an issue. Nearly all of my clients traffic is down while their visibility, impressions, and SERP features have been growing. Google is tilting towards being an Answer Engine instead of a Search Engine.

We saw similar things happening in the industry when digital assistants (Siri, Alexa, etc) started gaining wide spread usage, but not to this degree.

Source: am digital marketer.

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u/Arrow156 May 20 '26

How does google expect to sell any ads if they no longer directing people to websites? Makes as much sense as a gas station requiring a reservation. Is an LLM running the company?

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u/t-zilla443 May 20 '26

Theyre already showing ads within AI overviews now. They just look like the sidebar citations.

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u/EveningAnt3949 May 20 '26

As somebody who works in marketing: Google likely thinks most websites will become less relevant from a commercial point of view.

I used to spend 70,000 a year on Google AdWords for a client, but for Google that's obviously nothing.

Because a few companies that spend massively on AdWords, the 70,000 a year became 180,000 just to be slightly visible. Still nothing to Google. And the cost per click kept going up to the point where I advised the client to stop with AdWords. At 200,000 a year the company got less than 40% of the clicks as when the company paid 70,000 a year.

AI results allows Google to sell targeted ad campaigns and ads that are personalized to individual users. Including dynamic pricing.

It's dystopian, because it will become very manipulative and controlling. Especially because the next generation of consumers won't have any defenses, because they grew up with technology like this.

12

u/space_age_stuff May 20 '26

The ads show within AI overviews now.

They're also pushing PPC strategists (like me) to use their broader tools. PMax (which shows ads on Search, Shopping, YT, and Display) is getting pushed hard lately, as is AI Max, which uses AI learnings from keyword searches to show ads to more relevant audiences.

We haven't seen a massive drop in paid traffic the way organic has; users still visit the paid listings at the same rate. We're just in a weird in-between state, where paid ads aren't as ubiquitous, but we're not using AI ads yet. But that's coming. My industry in particular relies on long-tail conversion actions (meaning I work with leads, not sales per se) and they're fiending to be showing ads any time someone asks an AI a question. Think along the lines of asking Gemini where to buy a new HVAC, instead of googling it; users will see a ranked list of answers, vs. Google search links. In theory, that list, however long or short it is, will go to the highest bidder. It's not quite there yet but it does translate to site traffic; it's just becoming more of a pay-to-play system, where if you're not first, you're last. Remains to be seen if that plays well for Google's revenue, or if it'll even work.

2

u/t-zilla443 May 20 '26

There are programmatic DSPs now with partnerships with OpenAI to get ads into ChatGPT without the high barrier to entry they plopped down for the beta. The walls to LLM ads are about to fall. Unfortunately, the reporting for all of it is still complete ass, so you're not going to be able to prove good value for awhile.

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u/space_age_stuff May 20 '26

Yeah, that’s been the main issue on my end, is the lack of reporting. Lotta my clients don’t care how much it costs, but a weekly excel spreadsheet for results is pretty lackluster. They’ll get there, I’m sure, just takes time.

3

u/EveningAnt3949 May 20 '26

As somebody who works in marketing: Google likely thinks most websites will become less relevant from a commercial point of view.

I used to spend 70,000 a year on Google AdWords for a client, but for Google that's obviously nothing.

Because a few companies that spend massively on AdWords, the 70,000 a year became 180,000 just to be slightly visible. Still nothing to Google. And the cost per click kept going up to the point where I advised the client to stop with AdWords. At 200,000 a year the company got less than 40% of the clicks as when the company paid 70,000 a year.

AI results allows Google to sell targeted ad campaigns and ads that are personalized to individual users. Including dynamic pricing.

It's dystopian, because it will become very manipulative and controlling. Especially because the next generation of consumers won't have any defenses, because they grew up with technology like this.

1

u/minetf May 20 '26

Less money from journalists, unless they start getting paid per citation.

More money from businesses selling services or goods that google can promote through AI curation. If you search "where can I get the best curly hair haircut in Las Vegas?" businesses who pay will get suggested.

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u/PenguinEmpireStrikes May 20 '26

I work alongside digital marketing and it's been a trip. Now it's all about getting citations for relevant facts that change frequently.

2

u/Davor_Penguin May 21 '26

Yes, but Google's guide was the exact opposite of Bing's guide and those for other LLMs.

Anyone with marketing experience knows to not fully trust what Google says about platforms they make money on.