Query Deserves Ads Is Where Google Is Headed

Query Deserves Ads is a concept similar to the existing algorithm called Query Deserves Freshness. This algorithm determines if a search query is trending or newsworthy and selects recently published webpages on the topic. Extending this idea, Query Deserves Ads would differentiate when a search query should display ads and switch over to a search result that includes advertising. This approach could allow search engines to preserve their lucrative advertising business in the age of AI by showing ads for shopping and transactional queries while providing informational results for non-monetized queries like weather or currency conversions.

Google has been incorporating AI into its search engine for years, which means the term traditional search is a misnomer when referring to Google. AI is used at every step of Google's search process, from the backend systems like RankBrain and SpamBrain to the frontend in the search results, including the Helpful Content System (HCU) and the Reviews System. AI is involved in the indexing process, the ranking process, and even in the search results themselves, such as in featured snippets and knowledge graph search results. Google's search engine is more accurately described as an AI search engine.

Generative Search refers to AI chatbots like Bing and Perplexity.ai that are stacked on top of a search index, with a middle layer coordinating between the two, often using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). Generative Search is a blend of a chatbot and a search engine, providing both conversational interaction and search results. However, it's currently seen as awkward because it tries to fulfill multiple roles. In contrast, traditional search engines like Google have evolved to integrate AI deeply into their systems, making them more efficient at providing search results without the chatbot interface.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai believes that websites and search engines will continue to be important because search needs the diversity of opinions inherent in the web. He contradicts the narrative that search engines will be replaced by AI, suggesting instead that they will coexist. Pichai's vision for the future of search includes websites because they provide a range of perspectives and information that AI alone cannot replicate. This diversity is crucial for queries that require human input, such as comparisons, user reviews, expert human reviews, news, medical, and financial information.

The idea that SEO is dead in the age of AI is considered premature according to the text. While AI is changing the landscape of search, there is still a need for websites, search engines, and SEO as long as there is money to be made from search advertising. The concept of Query Deserves SEO suggests that as long as search queries require human-generated content and insights, such as reviews and news, there will be a need for SEO to optimize content for visibility and relevance in search engine results.