⁂ L. RhodesMay 19

Okay okay okay okay. This… is a horrible idea: "One of the ways Google is integrating these new capabilities is with 'generative UI' (user interface), where it builds custom widgets and visualizations on the fly in answer to users' search questions." https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/19/google-search-as-you-know-it-is-over/

Interactivity is a powerful educational tool. Connecting it to a bullshit generator is going to result in a lot of incorrect but compelling digital models, reinforcing misinformation that most users aren't equipped to dispute.

Google Search as you know it is over | TechCrunch

Google is transforming Search from a list of links into an AI-powered experience filled with conversational answers, autonomous agents, and interactive interfaces — a shift that could further reduce traffic to publishers across the web.

TechCrunch
Show thread⁂ L. RhodesMay 19

Their illustration of a concept is a case in point: "You can imagine, for example, how a question about black holes in space could lead to an interactive visual that brings the concept to life."

How many of your friends and family members would recognize an incorrect model of a black hole? If they spent 15 minutes playing with an interactive model, do you think they'd be inclined to question the information they took away from that experience?

Show thread⁂ L. RhodesMay 19
I don't really understand how this makes financial sense for Google. Generating UI and visualizations on the fly has to be much more expensive than just returning a list of search results. To make up the difference, they'll need to make multiples of what they were already making with advertising. Keeping people on site sounds like a good thing, except that Google also handles advertising on other sites, and now they won't get those ad views. Where does the extra revenue come from?
Show thread⁂ L. RhodesMay 19
Theoretically, the best bet for Google is serving links to sites that carry their ads, and sending users to more than one of those sites so that AdSense gets multiple hits per search. If the plan is to make Google a one-stop destination, then they either have to charge more for the one or two ads they display during that stop, or focus more on extracting every last ounce of value from the data they harvest from and about the users that make those visits.
Show thread⁂ L. Rhodes
If the power of the internet to connect billions of regular people was revolutionary, then efforts like Google's generative replacement for search should be understood, fundamentally, as counter-revolutionary acts — a deeply conservative reorientation of that power toward a single, capital-controlled provider, achieved by alienating individuals from both one another and the communal project of sharing information and personal opinions.
May 20 at 12:03pmWeb
Show threadLaberpferdMay 23
@lrhodes exactly this