Marketing and advertising are experiencing an unprecedented era of transformation.

Multiple market factors are at play: the potential deprecation of third-party cookies, the emergence of new alternative identifiers, Google's privacy sandbox promises, and significant changes to search. Together, they are creating considerable disruption.

The anxiety surrounding Google's AI Overview epitomizes the broader concerns about shifts in the advertising ecosystem, particularly around AI and Google's substantial influence on business and individual revenues, often without clear means for financial risk mitigation.

As content creators struggle with how to embrace AI and use its power, they face the very real possibility of being cut out of the creative process, threatening their livelihoods. Publishers face a similar conundrum. The balance between human-created, machine-generated, and hybrid content is becoming increasingly crucial as creators resist the use of their work for training AI models that could eventually diminish their relevance.

Add to this dilemma the fact that pretty much everyone is at the mercy of Google, which controls more than 90% of global search traffic. It's easy to understand why there is concern after the disruption caused by Google's planned cookie deprecation and repeated delays.

AI Overview's Impact on SEO

Google's new AI Overview feature in Search is at the heart of the evolving debate. AI Overview is designed to enhance search results by providing summarized answers to queries, pulling information from various sources and presenting it in a concise, easy-to-read format.

Although that sounds like a boon for users—quicker and more direct access to information—it poses a significant threat to content creators and publishers.

For those who rely heavily on search engine optimization (SEO) to drive traffic to their websites, AI Overview could upend that strategy. Businesses invest heavily in SEO to ensure they rank high in search results, driving organic traffic and, by extension, revenue. Because AI Overview potentially reduces the need for users to click through to the original content, those investments in SEO may yield diminishing returns.

The AI Overview feature's impact on revenue streams could be profound, affecting billions of dollars in revenue for those who currently rank high in search results.

The anxiety surrounding this change is palpable. Google frequently updates its search algorithm to improve results and eliminate low-quality content and spammers. However, AI Overview is different; it poses a threat to substantial investments in SEO efforts.

For businesses dependent on search rankings, the uncertainty surrounding AI Overview is alarming.

Beyond AI Overview: Google's Advertising Control

The broader implications of Google's dominance in search and advertising are also under scrutiny. The company's near-monopoly over online traffic raises questions about the concentration of power in the hands of a single entity.