Google Search may no longer be completely free

According to insider reports, Google is considering charging users for its AI-powered search experience–called Search Generative Experience (SGE)--which it began testing last year and is available to a limited set of users as a default experience and any user on an opt-in basis, for free.

This will be the first time Google will charge for its content. 

What is Google’s SGE?

SGE is a search experience that offers users AI-powered summaries, in response to their queries. The summaries give them an overview of the topic they’ve been searching about, and key, related information, in a quick snapshot (with suggested options to deepen their search) so they don’t need to click on individual websites within the Google Search Engine to find what they need, themselves. 

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What will Google charge for its AI-powered search features? 

While Google claims it has “nothing to announce right now”, it’s believed that its AI-powered search experience could become part of Google’s existing premium subscription services, that offer paying users things like extra storage or access to its advanced AI features, like the Gemini AI assistant in Gmail and GDocs.

It’s thought that the original Google Search Engine will remain free, with only paying users allowed access to the advanced AI features. But all users–free users and subscribers–will still be shown adverts.

Why is Google charging for its AI-powered search features? 

Google may start charging for its AI-powered search features because it’s grappling with two issues: 

1. Remaining competitive: In response to a user query, the traditional Google Search Engine excelled at indexing billions of websites to present a diverse set of search results. This was more than enough for us, until the arrival of Microsoft-backed ChatGPT. Because ChatGPT contextually understands the nuances of a user's query, it can often generate a better, more relevant, and more accurate response summary, potentially making search engines, like Google, redundant. 

2. Safeguarding its biggest revenue stream: While Google is desperately trying to remain competitive, its generative AI features (which cost millions to build and maintain) are likely to damage its financial backbone: Its search-related advertising. SGE reduces the need for users to click on individual websites, resulting in fewer ad impressions, which is, therefore, likely to jeopardize its ad revenue stream, which currently makes it around $175B per year.