Google Gemini Deep Research May Erode Website Earnings

There is a plausible theory floating around that Google’s AI agent, called Deep Research, could be negatively affecting affiliate sites. If true, not only would this affect affiliate site earnings, it could also reduce ad and web traffic revenue for informational sites, including “happy” sites linked to by Google’s AI research assistant.

Gemini Deep Research

Gemini Deep Research is a new tool available to premium subscribers to Gemini Advanced. Deep Research takes user queries and researches the response on the web, then generates a report. The survey can be further refined to obtain more precise results.

On December 11, Google introduced Deep Research. He describes it as a time-saving tool that creates a research plan and, once approved, conducts research.

Google explains:

“Deep Research uses AI to research complex topics on your behalf and provides you with findings in a comprehensive, easy-to-read report, and it’s the first look at how Gemini is getting even better at solving complex tasks to save you time.

Under your supervision, Deep Research does the hard work for you. After you enter your question, a multi-step research plan is created for you to revise or approve. Once you approve it, it begins to thoroughly analyze relevant information from around the web on your behalf.”

Deep Research presents a report containing a summary and recommendations. If you are looking for a product, it will summarize the pros and cons with enough information that the user won’t need to click a link to visit the website, they can simply go directly to the retailer and buy the product, eliminating the possibility of a website visitor clicking on an affiliate link from a website review site and deny revenue to that news site.

According to an article by Marie Haynes on YouKnowAI, the thoroughness of the summary generated by Gemini Deep Research negates the need to visit the site, depriving the site of affiliate link income.

YouKnowAI explains:

“…maybe sites like foodnetwork.com will get clicks and subsequent affiliate sales. In my own research so far I have found that I don’t click on websites because I get what I need to know from research and then go to official websites or maybe Amazon or stores near me to buy.

…The obvious question here is what happens when sites like foodnetwork.com and seriouseats.com see a drop in traffic? “

If it’s true that Gemini Deep Research users won’t have to visit websites to make up their minds, then it’s possible that this new tool will also negatively impact web traffic and advertising revenue.

Is Google out of touch with the web ecosystem?

ua In a recent interview, Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, insisted that Google cares about the web ecosystem. When asked how Google supports the web ecosystem, he had a hard time giving an answer. After a long series of uhms and false starts, he started talking about how Google’s own YouTube platform allows multinational media corporations to monetize their intellectual property on YouTube.

“He avoids mentioning websites, talking abstractly about an “ecosystem,” then when he runs out of things to say he changes course and starts talking about how Google compensates copyright holders who sign up for YouTube’s Content ID program.

He answered:

‘Look, I… uh… It’s a… very important question… uhm… look, I… I… I think… I think more than any other company… look, you know… we’ve been through for a long time through… you know… whether it’s in search, providing… although it’s often discussed, we spend a lot of time thinking about the traffic we send to the ecosystem.

Even through the moment through the transition in the past few years. That’s an important priority for us.’”

This is why the Google CEO’s explanation falls flat

1. YouTube is not a web ecosystem, it is Google’s own platform.

2. Multinational mega corporations are not web creators.

Pichai’s response sent an unintended message that Google is completely out of touch with web creators, and if the author of the article about the Google Gemini Deep Research tool is correct, it’s further evidence that Google continues to focus on providing information to users at the expense of creators.

Does Gemini Deep Research collect data without returning it?

There is an old Twilight Zone television episode called Serving Man which is about a benevolent race of aliens who bring advanced technologies that allow humans to live in peace, with food security and prosperity for all. As proof of their good intentions, they give the world a book written in a foreign language entitled Serving Man. The episode ends when government cryptographers translate the book and discover that it is a cookbook and that the aliens’ true intentions are to grow humans as a food source.

Google’s mission statement that promises to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” also seems like a testament to their good intentions. However, the mission statement does not specifically say that Google will direct users to sources of information. It only promises to organize and provide the information itself in a way that is accessible and useful. Although referring users to the creators of the information could be part of making the information accessible and useful, this is not explicitly stated; it is not even implied in the mission statement.

Is Google Gemini Deep Research further evidence that Google is using websites as a source of information?

If you are a creator, do you seem to feel nurtured?

Featured Image Shutterstock/Nomad_Soul