According to a new report from the Financial Times, Google is seriously considering charging for AI-powered search, currently known as the Search Generative Experience (SGE). This is the first time Google has ever thought of charging for a search product, so if it does happen, it will be big news.
However, we are far from that point as it seems to be internal discussions for now. While engineers are currently “developing the technology needed to deploy the service,” executives have not yet made a final decision on whether or when to launch it. Still, if the company goes ahead with such a plan, it will charge for new premium search features powered by generative AI.
Another option would be to bundle some premium AI search features with its existing subscriptions, which already offer access to Gemini in Gmail and Docs through the Google One AI Premium plan. Whatever happens, the ‘traditional’ search engine will remain free, while, interestingly, the paid AI-powered service would not be ad-free.
The report claims that Google has been “scrambling to respond to the competitive threat posed by ChatGPT” for about 18 months now. While the previous part of this statement was pretty clear for all to see (the “scrambling” bit), how much of a “competitive threat” ChatGPT poses to Google Search is a proclamation that needs many citations, and this one has none.
Then again, in the future, ChatGPT could theoretically become a replacement for Google search, in which case Google’s ad revenue would definitely be affected. Ad revenue is basically Google’s revenue, so it’s not surprising that the company would think of ways to respond and adapt.
Because generative AI consumes a lot of resources, an AI-powered search engine will be more expensive to run. Hence, the immediate solution seems to be charging for it – and it’s not just Google; after all, ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot both have paid tiers.
In a statement, a Google spokesperson said:
We’ve spent years reinventing Search to help people access information in the way that’s most natural to them. With our generative AI experiments in Search, we’ve already served billions of queries, and we’re seeing positive Search query growth in all of our major markets. We continue to rapidly improve the product to meet new user needs. We don’t have anything to announce right now.