The anxiety about silent web searches
In the rapidly changing digital landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the search and advertising ecosystem in unprecedented ways.
Since 2005, search results have evolved significantly. News snippets, video previews, and the Knowledge Graph were introduced, providing users with a more engaging and informative search experience. In 2012, the Knowledge Graph was introduced, immediately displaying information about people, places, or companies, offering users a quick and convenient way to access relevant data.
As AI continues to evolve, so does the value of each click for companies. With their brand present in AI answers, each click becomes potentially more valuable, indicating a highly interested and well-informed user, bringing a significantly higher purchase or conversion readiness.
However, this shift towards AI-driven search also presents challenges for advertisers. Companies need new tools to measure visibility in AI results, and content must be "AI-friendly" to appear in generative answers. Publishers, too, are grappling with the impact of AI. The growing use of AI summaries in search results is leading to a loss of traffic and ad revenues for publishers.
To address this, a new business model, Cost per Crawl, is being discussed. This would allow publishers to be paid for the use of their content by AI agents. Partnerships should also be reviewed to ensure partner sites do not block AI crawlers.
The fragmentation of search providers, including Google, Bing, Perplexity, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and others, means higher complexity in planning, optimization, and reporting for advertisers. However, this also opens up the opportunity for more precise target group addressing and more differentiated KPIs.
In 2024, "AI Overviews" were introduced, providing entire summaries, reviews, and purchase recommendations. This has further increased the number of zero-click searches, a trend that is predicted to increase significantly in 2025. Publicis Media uses brandlight, a customized analytics tool that tracks mentions, evaluates sentiment, and context for AI results.
Product pages, local shops, and direct-to-consumer offers must be optimized to be correctly cited and displayed by AI systems. The trend in SEA & SEO is moving towards Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), which involves optimizing content for generative AI search platforms.
Perplexity offers "Sponsored Questions" - a format that rethinks search engine advertising. This new format provides an opportunity for companies to reach users in a more interactive and engaging way. However, it also requires a new approach to advertising strategies.
In conclusion, the rise of AI in the search and advertising ecosystem offers new opportunities for more precise targeting and valuable clicks. But it also requires early preparation from advertisers. Those who are not present risk losing relevance in the new AI-driven search landscape.
