AI is going to obliterate websites and advertising. Which marketer wil hit the panic button first?
Marco van Hurne
I build AI companies | Data Science Strategist @ Beyond the Cloud | Data Strategy Certified | AI Compliance Officer Certified
The days of leisurely browsing through websites are about as doomed as your dad’s cassette tape collection.
That’s right, peeps, because in the not-so-distant future, we will all be sitting back while AI agents take over the surfing for you. And no, I’m not talking about those cute little Alexa “skills” that turn on your lights. I’m talking full-on, autonomous digital assistants. Think of them as your personal internet butlers, and they are here to eliminate the monotony of searching, clicking, and scrolling. In the article "The Evolution of AI: the Business (re)Design Space", I called it the Machine Customers.
Websites will soon be as relevant as Blockbuster, something we’ll look back on fondly, like, "Aw, remember when we had to actually browse things ourselves"...
Read and weep:
Turns out this celeb in the AI world Jeremiah Owyang has had similar ideas about this shift. And when he thinks of something, it will most likely happen.
Before we start!
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Search engine marketshare
Already, Google’s stranglehold on search is slipping.
About 20% of people now say they’d rather chat with ChatGPT than Google something.
And guess what? I’m one of them.
The other day, I bought a retro steam punk keyboard through ChatGPT without even glancing at an ecommerce site. No banners, no blinking ads, no 27 tabs open with a slight panic attack.
Just me, my AI, and pure search bliss.
Of course you need to trust the outcome of the AI based search, and that will take some time.
Let’s get one thing clear: I’m not here to tell you if advertising will be obliterated—I’m here to tell you how soon. Because, AI agents are coming for your advertising budget with a sledgehammer. These little algorithmic oompa loompas will be surfing the internet on your behalf, grabbing exactly what we want, minus the soul-sucking ads, irrelevant pop-ups, and always changing UX standards. Websites will try to lure us in, but AI agents won’t give them the time of day. And, my friends, marketers are going to have a meltdown.
But there's a way around if you do it right...
Welcome to the Age of AI internet butlers
Let me spell it out for you....AI agents are going to handle all the internet grunt work for you.
You know, the stuff we avoid like the plague: filling out forms, comparing prices, finding the right service provider. These agents are our digital sherpas, bringing us only the essential bits, wrapped in a neat package.
Want your info in text.....Sure. Prefer it as a voice message...Done. Dreaming of an immersive VR experience featuring 3D spinning versions of them Nikes....Just look through your AR/AI glasses.
Look, I don’t judge, and neither will your AI agent.
If you want a taste of this future, just check out these articles:
I was a bit distracted, sorry, getting back to the advertising issue at hand..
If companies keep their websites as they are, including ads, our digital butlers will be instructed to block ads faster than my teenage daughter blocking her ex. They will parse data, extract the useful stuff, and toss the garbage to the curb. It will be a totally smart task assistant, ad blocker, comparison, purchasing oompa loompa on steroids, with protein shakes, and a PhD in pettiness.
And if you’re asking, “But Marco, what is the catch” Oh, there is one: the business model. Who is this agent working for, really?
Three types of agents
I see three types of AI agents emerging in this brave new world.
You got your Premium agents, where you pay a little cash so you can customize them - the things that they will do for you and maybe their look and feel as well. They will be free of ads, protected from data leaks, and spared from creepy targeted pop-ups.
Then there’s the Freemium agent, where big guys like Amazon will happily lend you their Alexa/Claud based agent (Claud is a competitor of ChatGPT and Amazon is has been bedroom-eying them for a while, as long as it nudges you toward their products.
And last but not least, their will be the Hybrid agent, that is the wild child who sprinkles in ads like a Facebook feed until you start feeding it your data, at which point it decides to show you ads that are almost relevant. Now, doesn’t that sound like fun...
So, about the mass extinction of ads
Now, before you shed a tear for advertisers, hear me out. I think about 20-30% of people would pay for a Premium agent, because that is the norm for other premium services we use. I am talking about the high-rollers here, the iOS crowd, the luxury Android users, the folks who practically exude disposable income. Need I name a few from my LinkedIn crow?
This segment is not that huge...
But oh boy, it’s the one that marketers are dreaming about.
So instead of flashing banner ads in their faces, advertisers will need to change the game.
They will go from ads to offers.
Discounts,
VIP perks,
Finally, some good loyalty programs
Whatever it takes to stay in the AI’s good graces. Your AI butler will be negotiating with advertisers on your behalf, brokering deals like your own personal bargain hunter.
And if you think this is not happening right now, think again. In march this year I counted 43 platforms which offered AI assistants you could customize. Now its over 400 !
But for everyone else, websites better start stepping up their game.
Marketers will need to make their websites worth visiting. No more sad UX layouts and stock photos. Now it’s all about immersive experiences, rich media, some insite AR, luxury vibes, Voice assistants, the works....the things people will actually want to engage with. I’m talking the kind of content you can actually enjoy without wishing your boss would walk by and save you from boredom.
The big tech behemoths and their AI plot
Of course, Big Tech is already eyeing this AI agent market like vultures circling a three-day-old corpse.
Amazon will give you a free agent of course. Initially as part of their Alexa offering (when they've completed the Claude integration and have upped their voice capabilities). It will be one that makes sure you never see another retailer again.
Google will expect a research-focused agent with two flavors: ad-ridden “free” and a premium, ad-free version for people who hate commercials as much as they hate pop-ups. And of course Google Home with their Gemini integration will play a key role in that offering. Apple...hmmm.. when they wake up, they will have an agent too... It will be one that whispers sweet nothings about privacy and collect your biometrics and requiring a new device every year. Because Apple, peeps.
And while Big Tech thinks about their next move, 400+ AI Assistant startups are out here ready to snatch the AI agent throne. Every tech wave—dot-com, Web 2.0, mobile—has started with scrappy underdogs disrupting the big guys.
This time, it already is the AI startups which are redefining internet behavior, and yes, I’m investing a lot of time in them. AI agents are set to make ads irrelevant and digital assistants indispensable. You heard it here first.
So, Are Ads Really Doomed?
In case you missed it, let me hammer it home: AI agents are going to take over our internet browsing, skip the ads, and serve up only what we care about, wrapped in the format we want. Ads as we know them are toast. Websites will have to evolve or go the way of the dodo. Consider yourself warned, peeps !
Signing off - Marco
Well, that's a wrap for today. Tomorrow, I'll have a fresh episode of TechTonic Shifts for you. If you enjoy my writing and want to support my work, feel free to buy me a coffee ??
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