Casey Newton

Before this feature rolled out, you would see a list of links to sites like Wirecutter that had done a lot of rigorous testing of laptops. Now, with what Google is calling AI overviews, it'll say like, here are some of the best laptops of 2024 as judged by experts. And they'll sort of look at

50 different companies that have written a page like this and they will summarize it and they will sort of show you in little footnotes maybe who wrote that story. But most people, of course, are not going to click on those footnotes. They're just going to see a little summary. So why does that matter? Well, This is one of the places where publishers are still making money.

50 different companies that have written a page like this and they will summarize it and they will sort of show you in little footnotes maybe who wrote that story. But most people, of course, are not going to click on those footnotes. They're just going to see a little summary. So why does that matter? Well, This is one of the places where publishers are still making money.

50 different companies that have written a page like this and they will summarize it and they will sort of show you in little footnotes maybe who wrote that story. But most people, of course, are not going to click on those footnotes. They're just going to see a little summary. So why does that matter? Well, This is one of the places where publishers are still making money.

They're able to put affiliate links if they do these sort of wire cutter style tests of products. And if people buy something because they read that web page, then the publisher gets a little bit of a kickback. now those kickbacks are probably gonna start going away too. And so this is just, again, one more place where publishers aren't gonna see revenue.

They're able to put affiliate links if they do these sort of wire cutter style tests of products. And if people buy something because they read that web page, then the publisher gets a little bit of a kickback. now those kickbacks are probably gonna start going away too. And so this is just, again, one more place where publishers aren't gonna see revenue.

They're able to put affiliate links if they do these sort of wire cutter style tests of products. And if people buy something because they read that web page, then the publisher gets a little bit of a kickback. now those kickbacks are probably gonna start going away too. And so this is just, again, one more place where publishers aren't gonna see revenue.

But it's actually much bigger than that because the real idea here, PJ, is that whereas browsing the web used to be considered something of a pastime to older folks like you and me, now it's being sort of presented as a chore, something that you shouldn't have to do. something that you should just let Google read the web for you, show you a bunch of results, and you'll never have to leave Google.

But it's actually much bigger than that because the real idea here, PJ, is that whereas browsing the web used to be considered something of a pastime to older folks like you and me, now it's being sort of presented as a chore, something that you shouldn't have to do. something that you should just let Google read the web for you, show you a bunch of results, and you'll never have to leave Google.

But it's actually much bigger than that because the real idea here, PJ, is that whereas browsing the web used to be considered something of a pastime to older folks like you and me, now it's being sort of presented as a chore, something that you shouldn't have to do. something that you should just let Google read the web for you, show you a bunch of results, and you'll never have to leave Google.

So the reason that this is so important is this is really the first step toward you not having to visit the web anymore because Google is going to read the web for you. And like,

So the reason that this is so important is this is really the first step toward you not having to visit the web anymore because Google is going to read the web for you. And like,

So the reason that this is so important is this is really the first step toward you not having to visit the web anymore because Google is going to read the web for you. And like,

Yes. So I hated what Perplexity was doing. I hated what ArcSearch, another company, was doing that was basically exactly the same thing. And the reason I hated it so much was that I knew that Google would do it. because in some ways it is a better user experience, right? There's a reason that people really like asking ChatGPT questions.

Yes. So I hated what Perplexity was doing. I hated what ArcSearch, another company, was doing that was basically exactly the same thing. And the reason I hated it so much was that I knew that Google would do it. because in some ways it is a better user experience, right? There's a reason that people really like asking ChatGPT questions.

Yes. So I hated what Perplexity was doing. I hated what ArcSearch, another company, was doing that was basically exactly the same thing. And the reason I hated it so much was that I knew that Google would do it. because in some ways it is a better user experience, right? There's a reason that people really like asking ChatGPT questions.

And it is that they do not get a big research project back when they say, show me the best shoes, right? ChatGPT will just say, oh, if you're a man, here's like 10 kinds of shoes that should be in your wardrobe. Google will show you 4,800 links to websites. It's clear to me what is the better user experience, right?

And it is that they do not get a big research project back when they say, show me the best shoes, right? ChatGPT will just say, oh, if you're a man, here's like 10 kinds of shoes that should be in your wardrobe. Google will show you 4,800 links to websites. It's clear to me what is the better user experience, right?

And it is that they do not get a big research project back when they say, show me the best shoes, right? ChatGPT will just say, oh, if you're a man, here's like 10 kinds of shoes that should be in your wardrobe. Google will show you 4,800 links to websites. It's clear to me what is the better user experience, right?

So I knew when I saw what Perplexity and Arc and some of these others were doing that Google was going to feel pressure to do the same thing. But still, it had to happen. And then this week it happened.