As Execs Gush Over AI at Google I/O 2024, Creators and Publishers Left Out to Dry

Google wouldn’t exist without publishers filling up its search results.

WhenChatGPTbecame available to the public in late 2022, it caught the tech industry off-guard.

Since then, Google, Microsoft and Meta haveinvested billions in AI.

For many sites, a majority of their traffic comes from Google Search.

Even subscription-driven sites still have to optimize content for Google.

This is all while Google continues to hitrecord profitsandstock valuationsas the media industry reels frombrutal layoffsamid anuncertain advertising market.

In fairness to Google, AI searches do link to the original sources.

Publishers have forecasted this shift and are looking towards different strategies to diversify revenues, according to Meadows.

Some are more hopeful, however.

It’s also worth considering what people’s appetites are regarding AI-generated content.