Google and Microsoft have both added AI-powered features to their web browsers. The experimental modes may be more useful but have raised questions about advertising models.

Microsoft's new tool, Copilot Mode, is the latest in its series of AI additions to existing applications. For now at least it is completely opt-in.

It means the new tab page will have a single input box where users can type any text. If it's a website address, the relevant page will simply open. If it's a question, the user can choose between conducting an ordinary web search and having an AI-powered answer.

As usual, the web search will try to identify the most relevant web page based on the query, the user's location and search history, and the perceived authority of various websites. Meanwhile the AI-powered answer will try to "write" the response, using potentially relevant websites as the underlying data.

Update Confusion

The theory is that this approach does a much better job of understanding what information the user actually wants to get, rather than simply trying to match relevant websites based on the terms they use. However, ZDNet's Ed Bott noted that in his testing, CoPilot Mode often mixed up different web pages, particularly ones that were recently updated. (Source: zdnet.com)

Google already has an AI-powered search tool, which aims to put a summary of a topic before the relevant search results. These results are extremely mixed, with user highlighting cases where the summary accurately reflects the contents of inaccurate web pages, including some clearly designed as spoof or satire.

Now Google is testing a separate "Web Guide" tool, again opt-in and available through a separate tab in search results. This is designed to be a full, unique answer to a question, rather than a summary of other sites.

Advertising Angst

A Google product manager told the BBC it was best suited to complex questions which had multiple elements such as "I spilled coffee on my Berber carpet, [and] I'm looking for a cleaner that is pet friendly." Having these elements makes it harder for traditional search to figure out the key elements and find a website that best covers them all. (Source: bbc.co.uk)

Many website operators remain concerned that increasing use of AI-powered answers could reduce the number of people visiting websites through search engine links, in turn reducing their ad revenue. That could be an unwanted consequence for Google as well, which is a major player in online advertising and would lose out on its cut if ad revenues fall.

What's Your Opinion?

Would you be interested in trying either of these tools? Are existing search tools doing a good enough job of answering your questions? Would you prefer visiting websites to answer your questions, even if that meant visiting multiple sites to get a fuller picture?