Rob Walling

And so I typed that into Google and the AI at the top had excellent results. I think it said between 90 and 94% of the projections and these are the different sources and blah, blah, blah. And it just summarized everything. I didn't have to click anything. So that's just one example, but I find that being more and more common.

And so I typed that into Google and the AI at the top had excellent results. I think it said between 90 and 94% of the projections and these are the different sources and blah, blah, blah. And it just summarized everything. I didn't have to click anything. So that's just one example, but I find that being more and more common.

And what used to happen is I would Google it, I'd see the AI result, and I would question the AI result. You know, is this legit? Because AI can hallucinate, as we know. But they are citing sources, and you can see the sentence from the source. So things are going to get dicey. It's going to be interesting to watch as search engine click-throughs drop significantly in in the coming years.

And what used to happen is I would Google it, I'd see the AI result, and I would question the AI result. You know, is this legit? Because AI can hallucinate, as we know. But they are citing sources, and you can see the sentence from the source. So things are going to get dicey. It's going to be interesting to watch as search engine click-throughs drop significantly in in the coming years.

And if you look back, Ruben Gomez and I had a conversation about this three or four months ago. You can search for his name at startupswitharestofus.com to listen to that episode where we talk through organic SEO. And his company, Signwell, relies a lot on organic SEO. But you'll hear his perspective on it. It is very much facing the present reality, but also there are ways around this.

And if you look back, Ruben Gomez and I had a conversation about this three or four months ago. You can search for his name at startupswitharestofus.com to listen to that episode where we talk through organic SEO. And his company, Signwell, relies a lot on organic SEO. But you'll hear his perspective on it. It is very much facing the present reality, but also there are ways around this.

Content-based keyword targeting is only one way to do SEO in Google. What are the other ways that maybe won't be impacted by AI? And this, among all the other predictions, is the one that I don't want it to happen because guess how many startups I'm invested in, I advise, or I'm rooting for that rely on content-based keyword targeting? There's a lot of them.

Content-based keyword targeting is only one way to do SEO in Google. What are the other ways that maybe won't be impacted by AI? And this, among all the other predictions, is the one that I don't want it to happen because guess how many startups I'm invested in, I advise, or I'm rooting for that rely on content-based keyword targeting? There's a lot of them.

But we do have to face the current reality when we are building our companies. My fifth prediction is that ads in AI chat interfaces like ChatGPT or Claude or whatever other chat interface you use will become commonplace. because this is the next frontier.

But we do have to face the current reality when we are building our companies. My fifth prediction is that ads in AI chat interfaces like ChatGPT or Claude or whatever other chat interface you use will become commonplace. because this is the next frontier.

As eyeballs move from clicking on the 10 blue links on the Google search engine result page, it's natural that these free interfaces have to make some type of money. They have to start monetizing at some point. And so they're going to be toying around with different types of ads. And I don't know if they look like AdWords or not. Will they be display ads? Will they be text ads?

As eyeballs move from clicking on the 10 blue links on the Google search engine result page, it's natural that these free interfaces have to make some type of money. They have to start monetizing at some point. And so they're going to be toying around with different types of ads. And I don't know if they look like AdWords or not. Will they be display ads? Will they be text ads?

Will they be a video pop-up? Will they be just a sentence embedded in the AI's thing of like, hey, if you like this, maybe if you searched for this, maybe you want to buy a self-driving taxi. That doesn't actually make a lot of sense, but... You get the idea. It can be interwoven into the message. There's a lot of creative approaches to this. I think some companies will overdo it.

Will they be a video pop-up? Will they be just a sentence embedded in the AI's thing of like, hey, if you like this, maybe if you searched for this, maybe you want to buy a self-driving taxi. That doesn't actually make a lot of sense, but... You get the idea. It can be interwoven into the message. There's a lot of creative approaches to this. I think some companies will overdo it.

It'll be super annoying because marketers ruin everything and monetization ruins everything. But my prediction is that we will... I know we're already seeing a little bit. I think there's one company right now that's testing ads in their AI interface as I'm recording this. But it will become, dare I say, almost ubiquitous one year from now.

It'll be super annoying because marketers ruin everything and monetization ruins everything. But my prediction is that we will... I know we're already seeing a little bit. I think there's one company right now that's testing ads in their AI interface as I'm recording this. But it will become, dare I say, almost ubiquitous one year from now.

My sixth prediction, another, there's two more related to AI. And look, I'm sorry. I'm not like a big AI proponent or opponent. I think it is just shifting the landscape of everything. And the fact that Google's 10 blue links are being disrupted shows you what a monumental shift across the entire ecosystem tech community and the startup community and frankly, the world.

My sixth prediction, another, there's two more related to AI. And look, I'm sorry. I'm not like a big AI proponent or opponent. I think it is just shifting the landscape of everything. And the fact that Google's 10 blue links are being disrupted shows you what a monumental shift across the entire ecosystem tech community and the startup community and frankly, the world.

It reminds you of how big of a shift it is. So my sixth prediction is that Google will see its biggest ever drop in revenue due to the transition from 10 blue links being the prominent way people search into AI ads. And I think Google's going to have a bit of time that they're going to need to figure it out. Because realistically, it's some astronomical number.

It reminds you of how big of a shift it is. So my sixth prediction is that Google will see its biggest ever drop in revenue due to the transition from 10 blue links being the prominent way people search into AI ads. And I think Google's going to have a bit of time that they're going to need to figure it out. Because realistically, it's some astronomical number.