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Comment by dgellow | Hacker News Reader

If people stop visiting websites, how do Google Search and website owners make money?

The web is currently built on advertising income, if that disappears or reduce massively, should we expect a lot of website to have to shutdown? Bing or ChatGPT would become the main way to access information, which would be an even more concentrated power than the current Google.

And the only way to make money in this context would be to sell products, or provide access to a data moat via an API. That's a radical shift from the current ad-based model.

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Can't wait to live in a world where ChatGPT sells stuff. We'll all be so helpless, with no idea whether the subtle advice about what to buy is the actual advice or purchased by an advertiser.

Very insightful.

Yes, that’s one option.

ChatGPT becoming like an AppStore. You pay them for usage of their interface + whatever actions/plug-ins you use.

Each plugin-provider gets paid according to their usage within ChatGPT.

There could also be an ad-supported version, free but you get ads or paid/commercial recommendations.

>The web is currently built on advertising income, if that disappears or reduce massively, should we expect a lot of website to have to shutdown?

Don't threaten me with a good time.

Wait until you have ad breaks every 5 or 10 gpt query as a way to finance the data provider :)

It is a radical shift. But so many so is the current internet a radical shift from its initial inception. People wrote blogs and articles long before ads. And now most people still do write them for free, it’s just that their content gets gobbled up by blogspam sites.

I definitely see a shift in the internet with things like this, I’m just not convinced it’s for the worse.

People wouldn't just write encyclopedia articles or software for free. Explicit economic incentives are needed for all creative pursuits.

I’m not sure if your ton is supposed to be ironic or not. I am talking about the shift from the current system (clearly ad based), towards a world where that’s not sustainable anymore. I did not say all creative output require economic incentives, that’s not something I believe to be true. I myself currently work more or less full time on my own creative projects because I like it, without consideration for economic values.

Apologies, the tone was snarky (I’ve seen many instances where people assume human output will cease in the face of AI generated content).

Yes, as SEO content becomes less valuable, those remaining will be creating for passion, like in the early days of the internet. Purely profit-driven ventures will move on.

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