Google's Liz Reid on Who Will Own Search in a World of AI
Not too long ago, search engines were the dominant form of querying the internet. But that's changing since the rise of large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google's Gemini. More and more people are getting their online info through AI, effectively bypassing the search bars of old and creating a tension for large tech companies that offer AI models, but also make money from web traffic and search-related advertising. In this episode, we speak with Elizabeth Reid, VP of search at Google. Liz has been with the company for more than two decades, witnessing multiple tech transformations in that time. So we talk with her about how Google is incorporating Gemini into search via AI overviews, what that means for traffic and ad sales, and the practical experience of search in an age of LLMs and internet slop.
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Is Google Getting Worse? (Update)
It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us? And is Google Search finally facing a real rival, in the form of A.I.-powered “answer engines”?
SOURCES:Marissa Mayer, co-founder of Sunshine; former C.E.O. of Yahoo! and vice president at Google.
Ryan McDevitt; professor of economics at Duke University.
Tim Hwang, media researcher and author; former Google employee.
Elizabeth Reid, vice president of Search at Google.
Aravind Srinivas, C.E.O. and co-founder of Perplexity.
Jeremy Stoppelman, C.E.O. and co-founder of Yelp.
RESOURCES:“A Fraudster Who Just Can’t Seem to Stop … Selling Eyeglasses,” by David Segal (The New York Times, 2022).
Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet, by Tim Hwang (2020).
“Complaint: U.S. and Plaintiff States v. Google LLC,” by the U.S. Department of Justice (2020).
“Fake Online Locksmiths May Be Out to Pick Your Pocket, Too,” by David Segal (The New York Times, 2016).
“‘A’ Business by Any Other Name: Firm Name Choice as a Signal of Firm Quality,” by Ryan C. McDevitt (Journal of Political Economy, 2014).
In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives, by Steven Levy (2011).
“The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine,” by Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page (Computer Networks and ISDN Systems, 1998).
EXTRAS:“Is Dialysis a Test Case of Medicare for All?” by Freakonomics Radio (2021).
“How Big is My Penis? (And Other Things We Ask Google),” by Freakonomics Radio (2017).
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