Google's AI is killing the web. Now the web is fighting back - AFR

Technology AI Print article Updated Aug 10, 2026 – 5.30pm , first published at 4.00pm Google became the king of internet search and created a free cornucopia of knowledge by striking a clever bargain with anyone who made a website: Let the company’s crawler index your pages and Google would send human readers back. That trade looks very different today thanks to Google’s strategy of using its search infrastructure to strengthen its artificial-intelligence products. Loading... Bloomberg Opinion Save Log in or Subscribe to save article Share Copy link Copied Email LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Copy link Copied Share via... Gift this article Subscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe now Already a subscriber? Login Read More AI Opinion Google UK Meta Microsoft OpenAI Instagram Fetching latest articles