Google has continuously invested in AI in the search field over the past several years, from RankBrain in 2016 to the launch of Search Generative Experience (SGE) in 2023. After multiple iterations due to hallucination issues, it ultimately achieved increased traffic and user engagement in markets like the US and UK through AI Overviews.

In terms of capital strategy, Google is directing substantial AI research and data center resources towards the global Search product line expansion, motivated by the need to counter challenges from competitors like OpenAI and Perplexity, and to enhance user retention and advertising monetization efficiency through AI Mode, achieving a strategic shift from traditional links to generative answers.

Similar to Microsoft's deep integration of OpenAI technology into Bing, Google is currently in a control phase of expanding AI search from the US to major European markets, ahead of traditional local search engines.

Essentially, this represents a technological replacement: AI generative capabilities are replacing traditional web indexing and manual ranking, with the mechanism being that large models integrate vast amounts of web data in real-time to provide instant answers, significantly reducing user search friction and reshaping the traffic distribution and monetization structure of the search industry.

ABAB News · Cognitive Law

The more AI understands users, the more traditional search traffic concentrates on generative platforms.
The speed of technological replacement = data scale × computational investment, and user habit shifts can happen overnight.
Platforms sell answers instead of links, with winners taking all as content distribution shifts to intelligent distribution.