Google Search, AI & Multimodality: Elizabeth Reid’s Vision

[Whitey]

In a fascinating follow-up to the Financial Times interview, Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable breaks down Google's evolving strategy from the perspective of Elizabeth Reid, VP of Search. From AI Overviews and multimodal queries to publisher concerns and the changing nature of ads, this piece offers valuable insights into how Google is redefining what search means — and what that means for SEO, content creators, and the broader web. Worth a read for anyone trying to stay ahead of the curve.

[seroundtable.com...]

[Micha]

This is typical “Google blah, blah, blah”. Clicks become more valuable through AI? Who is supposed to believe this nonsense? And who is supposed to believe the “exchange with users and a healthy ecosystem”? There is massive criticism and nothing happens, it is mercilessly ignored. That is not an exchange.
And best of all: no question about content usage without the creator getting something in return.

[Whitey]

@Micha – totally fair concerns. The tension between innovation and fair value exchange has never been greater, especially with AI summarizing and redirecting user journeys.

But I wonder if part of the story is evolving quietly — Reid hinted that Google is testing more contextual link attribution (“According to Financial Times”) rather than just appending links at the bottom. It's small, but could signal a shift if there's enough publisher pressure.

Also, with multimodal search on the rise, perhaps there's an opportunity for publishers and creators to design content that aligns more intentionally with new search behaviors — especially mobile-first, visual, and spoken interactions.

It's not the compensation model we hoped for, but if AI-assisted discovery becomes the default UX, then maybe the play is to find new ways to earn visibility and trust within it — while still pushing Google for real collaboration.

Curious if anyone here is seeing any positive shifts in traffic quality or engagement from AI-generated results yet?