Google is rolling out new features designed to give websites more visibility in AI-powered search results.
Or as my colleague Max puts it, "Great, the internet has been saved."
In "AI Mode," Google will display more links and add short explanations about why each result might be useful. The company is also weaving more inline links directly into responses. Previous studies have shown that AI-generated answers dramatically reduce click-through rates to websites.
Links from subscribed and popular media outlets will appear in a separate carousel, starting with the Gemini app. The feature pulls from users' subscriptions and preferred news sources.
Google is also testing AI-generated article summaries and audio briefings in Google News with publishers like "Der Spiegel" and "The Guardian." For real-time data in the Gemini app, Google is partnering with the Associated Press, among others. These exclusive deals are strategic—Google (and others) essentially create a prisoner's dilemma for other website operators who feel forced to put their content on AI platforms just to stay visible.
These partnerships also help keep publishers quiet about potential copyright violations from using their data for AI training. The announcements come shortly after the EU opened antitrust proceedings against Google over potential market abuse related to AI data practices regarding website and publisher content.
