Google admits open web in rapid decline | Latest Tech News
Google privately told a federal court that “the open web is already in rapid decline,” a sharp reversal from its public claims that search site visitors is booming — and a gorgeous admission as the Justice Department pushes to dismantle its advert tech empire.
The disclosure surfaced in a submitting last week in the federal government’s ongoing antitrust case against Google, according to court paperwork flagged by Search Engine Roundtable and industry analyst Jason Kint.
For months, Google executives have insisted that the web is “thriving” and that the company’s AI-powered search instruments are sending site visitors to more publishers than ever.
A Google spokesperson told The Post on Tuesday that the submitting has been amended to keep away from confusion about what the company was referring to, which is “open web display advertising” — not “open-web.”
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has defended the company’s search and AI instruments in public while court filings reveal a grimmer inner view of the open web. AP
“This is one cherry-picked line that misrepresents our legal filing – it’s clear from the preceding sentence that we’re referring to ‘open-web display advertising’ and not the open web as a whole,” a Google spokesperson told The Post.
“We are pointing out the obvious: that investments in non-open web display advertising like connected TV and retail media are growing at the expense of those in open web display advertising.”
Google argued that a compelled divestiture of its promoting business would “only accelerate” the collapse of the open web and “harm publishers who currently rely on open-web display advertising revenue.”
The Justice Department is searching for remedies that might embrace breaking up Google’s promoting technology unit, which dominates the market for digital advertisements.
Prosecutors argue the company’s stranglehold on advert shopping for and promoting has crushed competitors and squeezed publishers.
Google faces mounting antitrust scrutiny. GoodPics – stock.adobe.com
Google, in its submitting, said market forces — not regulators — are reshaping the industry, pointing to AI, linked TV and retail media as areas where advertisers are flocking.
“The fact is that today, the open web is already in rapid decline and Plaintiffs’ divestiture proposal would only accelerate that decline,” Google wrote.
“As the law makes clear, the last thing a court should do is intervene to reshape an industry that is already in the midst of being reshaped by market forces.”
The submitting appeared to be at odds with latest reassurances from top Google brass.
In May, CEO Sundar Pichai told Decoder that the company is “definitely sending traffic to a wider range of sources and publishers” since rolling out AI search instruments.
Nick Fox, Google’s senior vice president of information, echoed that view on the “AI Inside” podcast, saying that “from our point of view, the web is thriving.”
Google factors to artificial intelligence as reshaping online promoting markets. REUTERS
Just last month, Google Search head Liz Reid cited inner data exhibiting that click on quantity remained “relatively stable” in contrast with 2024, even as Pew Research reported customers had been “less likely” to click on hyperlinks when introduced with Google’s AI Overview characteristic.
After the Verge reported on the court admission, Google spokesperson Jackie Berté insisted the quote was being misinterpreted.
“It’s clear from the preceding sentence that we’re referring to ‘open-web display advertising’ and not the open web as a whole,” Berté told the Verge in an emailed assertion.
“We are pointing out the obvious: that investments in non-open web display advertising like connected TV and retail media are growing at the expense of those in open-web display advertising.”
Still, the excellence does little to ease writer issues.
Independent retailers and digital media corporations have long complained of site visitors drops tied to Google’s algorithm tweaks and the rise of generative AI chatbots.
Many say customers more and more get solutions straight from Google’s search outcomes without clicking through to their websites.
Industry teams argue that Google is talking out of both sides of its mouth: downplaying its dominance in court while projecting strength to advertisers and traders.
Google’s default search engine offers, including on Apple’s Safari browser, had been curbed by a federal choose last week. jixiang – stock.adobe.com
“Google can’t claim the web is thriving in public and collapsing in private,” Kint posted on X after the submitting surfaced.
The submitting comes as the DOJ presses its case for structural remedies against Google’s advert tech unit. A trial on remedies is set for later this 12 months following the court’s earlier discovering that Google illegally monopolized elements of the digital promoting market.
If the court orders a breakup, it might mark one of the most dramatic antitrust actions since the federal government’s case against Microsoft in the Nineties.
Last week, a federal choose ruled that Google is not going to be compelled to promote its Chrome browser or Android division, rejecting antitrust enforcers’ push to break up the company.
Instead, Google must end exclusive contracts that secure its default search engine standing, share sure search data with rivals, and submit to six years of oversight.
The determination is considered as a major win for Google, even as the court discovered it unlawfully maintained a monopoly in online search.
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