There is a possibility that Google may begin implementing charges for accessing search results that utilize generative artificial intelligence tools.

According to a recent report from the Financial Times, three individuals familiar with Google’s plans have provided insights on the matter.

It would be a new development for Google to charge for any part of its search engine, as the company has relied solely on ads to fund its search product since 2000. However, Google has a history of offering AI enhancements for a fee.

For example, they have a tier called “AI Premium” in their Google One subscription, which costs an additional $10 per month compared to the standard “Premium” plan. Additionally, they offer “Gemini Business” for an extra $20 per month on top of a standard Google Workspace subscription.

While the paid products provide access to Google’s advanced AI model called “Gemini Advanced,” Google also offers free access to a less powerful version called “Gemini” without requiring a paid subscription.

When Ads aren’t Enough?

According to the FT story, the suggested method would keep Google’s regular search (without AI) free and continue to display advertisements to subscribers of a paid AI search tier alongside their Gemini-powered search results.

However, the $175 billion in search revenue that Google reportedly made last year from ads may not be sufficient to offset the higher expenses associated with AI-powered search. According to a Reuters story from the previous year, using a sophisticated neural network like Gemini to conduct a search query “likely costs 10 times more than a standard keyword search,” which might result in “several billion dollars of extra costs” for Google’s network.

Setting aside the cost, it is unclear whether there is a sufficient market demand for this type of AI-enhanced search. Despite Microsoft’s significant investment in generative AI features for its Bing search engine, it has not been able to significantly impact Google’s dominant market share in the past year. According to reports, the adoption of Google’s experimental opt-in “Search Generative Experience” (SGE) has been relatively low. This feature includes chatbot responses along with the usual set of links when a search query is made.

“SGE never seems to provide much value to Google Search,” commented Ars’ Ron Amadeo in a recent article. “Google Search is a tool, and similar to how different tools have their own unique purposes, I prefer a search engine without a chatbot.”

Nevertheless, the current enthusiasm within the tech industry for generative AI has created a sense of urgency for Google to incorporate this technology into a high-quality search product sooner rather than later. According to FT, Google is still considering whether or not to implement the paid AI search plan. Meanwhile, Google engineers are diligently working on the backend technology required for the potential launch of this service.

Google also encounters challenges related to AI on the other side of the search divide. Last month, the company made an announcement about its increased focus on reducing the presence of content that is considered spammy or of low quality in its search results. This content is often created by AI chatbots.

In February, Google decided to discontinue the image-generation features of its Gemini AI model. This decision was made after it was discovered that the service was including historically inaccurate examples of racial diversity in some of its prompt responses.