Google Admits The Open Web Is Dying 💀

Google finally admits the open web is dying, which is kind of crazy, which is a memorandum they've put together because they're being challenged through their anti-competitive nature of Google ads. In this memorandum, they have explicitly said that the current state of web is declining. Now the exact figures on that are that in January 2025 only 11% of display adverts were purchased um by Adwords uh for for open web. So Kabaz and I have guessed or we we think open web is the publicly available web. We still log into the web you know for your apps and things like that but the open web is what can you visit without any kind of login or anything like that. So 11% only 11% should I say in 2025 because it was 40% in January 2019 40%. So nearly half right and ad adwords can appear all over the internet. So that they are seeing a decline and this was their argument to say well if to try and appease this anti-competitive nature we're furthering the decline of the web. So, and this kind of contradicts a few things that the um CEO Sundar Pai uh said that the web web is not dying. Uh but then in this article that they said to lawyers, if if you want I can show you it. It's um it's pretty pretty bloody boring, but I used AI to summarize this for me. But yeah, they're just saying that ad spend is shifting away from the open web and more into other formats like connected TV, retail media, and inapp advertisement. So the platform itself still there but it's just where these adverts are being viewed. What is in app? Uh is it do you mean like social media maybe? Yeah, you know those free games, free games as well. You get banner adverts and stuff like that. Um yeah, just something that happens inside of an advert or whatever. So they said it themselves and you know we said a few times the CE CEO SEO sorry is is dying. Discuss. Yeah, that that is interesting. This is also relevant to the position of these companies for showing ads. Um I I learned uh recently about Twitter that how bad Twitter is for showing ads and how well Google is positioned for showing ads. But if there is less traffic, uh does that mean that there there will be less ad spend uh ad spend for Google? Maybe not because they show you the I don't know they show you the AI generated um answers nowadays. So you don't have to go to any website. You don't really click on uh any links at all. I don't like I don't click on links anymore. So, well, I mean, what I've what I've posited is, and I've written in the notes here, is that maybe the web just becomes almost like a backend to apps and services. So, it's like we shouldn't stop publishing to the web, but this is a universally understood backend to our apps, to our to our everyday thing, not necessarily apps, but to to AI, you know, because it is a glorified Google search. It is uh you know again I mentioned perplexities just going out and searching and just giving to you know it's getting everything together for me based on what I've searched you know rather than me doing it you know fishing out. So that was kind of where I'm where I'm imagining what the internet becomes. It's just a it's just a library for us to access agree information rather than become this um uh you know I I got this image of the kid on the surfboard like surfing the web. Maybe we're just not we're not doing that anymore. We're just not actively. Yeah. No, it becomes a tool that we're using for information obviously apps and stuff like that as well. So yeah, it's it's an interesting state of the web and um mate, you're a designer. Yeah. Well, this is what I'm thinking about like it does it mean that it will like reduce like the or like uh cut everyone who's trying to go to my website? Not really because it like my website at the end of the day will remain my first like line of contact with my clients or with like my leads. So any type of website that is um or like not the first line but it's kind of like the main source of truth as you said kind of like a back end but we still we still don't have um kind of like an interface within these other apps to completely interact with what is on my website. They just take the content from my website and they kind of present it in a different way or summarize to you as a user. But if you are meant to, you know, if if the end goal for you is to buy my product, whatever that is, it could be a service, it could be information, whatever it is, you will land on my website anyway. So I I don't think it's going to completely reduce completely remove the need for websites at all. No, I'm talking about design. I'm talking about if if the web becomes a backendformationally it becomes the back end. What's the need for design? That's why I'm getting into because if people will land on your website anyway, they the need for design still remains. Not to mention, you want to stand out even more than before because now with AI kind of like templates, you can anyone can create a simple website. Once people realize, once the normal person realizes that they've effectively got a little personal assistant in their pocket that can go off and find them the best designer in Germany, you know, for uh let's say real estate, modern real estate, um parameter x, parameter y, all of these specific things. Find me the designer that can do that and it can just go off like a little assistant and do it for you, there will be no need for design. I I don't but it's true. Like once you once you realize that you've got this thing to go off and do like people do not want to be sat at their computer. I have to but I hate it. I hate sitting in my computer like no we don't want to work. we don't want to do this stuff. But they've yet to realize that I don't know. I don't agree with not wanting to sit at my computer. I quite enjoy like building something digital. Me too. Me too. And I and I think um with AI and you know AI's AI tools for design is becoming more generic than ever and standing out functional you know I'm not even sure well yes yes probably yes but but you still want to stand out to some Yeah. To the right people I think. Yeah. Yes. I think 80% of people they just they need to know you can do the job. They need to know that you're going to be a return on investment, you know, and um you having a fancy design could be one aspect of that for sure. But I overall this is what what we are betting on by the way like the the platform that I'm launching flowing that I you know talk about a lot. Well, not enough maybe in the streams but um that platform like my tagline I'm shifting it from you know just building websites. is about well-designed components. So what we are trying to target um is like distribution distribution of what distribution of like welldesigned pieces things that are very tastefully designed things that you cannot you cannot get out of AI. Not even close. Things that you see and you're like dang I I want this. I want this. This makes me stand out. This is beautiful. This is functional. This is not that generic functional. This is like standing out and functional. This is beautiful. Uh this is like what we are betting on. And I believe with you know AI being more available to everybody and everybody having more generic stuff, these things will stand out more. Um sounds cool. I look forward to it. Yeah. This is part of a larger conversation on my show, Command AI, which we stream live every single week. We discuss the news and all things related to AI in the world of design and web. Catch us next week and join in the banter.