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Title: Google's AI Mode Is 'the Definition of Theft,' Publishers Say

Link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/23/2092...

Google's new AI Mode for Search, which is rolling out to everyone in the
U.S., has sparked outrage among publishers, who call it "the definition of
theft" for using content without fair compensation and without offering a
true opt-out option. Internal documents revealed by Bloomberg earlier this
week suggest that Google considered giving publishers more control over how
their content is used in AI-generated results but ultimately decided against
it, prioritizing product functionality over publisher protections. News/Media
Alliance slammed Google for "further depriving publishers of original content
both traffic and revenue." Their full statement reads: "Links were the last
redeeming quality of search that gave publishers traffic and revenue. Now
Google just takes content by force and uses it with no return, the definition
of theft. The DOJ remedies must address this to prevent continued domination
of the internet by one company." 9to5Google's take: It's not hard to see why
Google went the route that it did here. Giving publishers the ability to opt
out of AI products while still benefiting from Search would ultimately make
Google's flashy new tools useless if enough sites made the switch. It was
very much a move in the interest of building a better product. Does that
change anything regarding how Google's AI products in Search cause potential
harm to the publishing industry? Nope. Google's tools continue to serve the
company and its users (mostly) well, but as they continue to bleed publishers
dry, those publishers are on the verge of vanishing or, arguably worse,
turning to cheap and poorly produced content just to get enough views to
survive. This is a problem Google needs to address, as it's making the
internet as a whole worse for everyone.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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