u/the-seo-works

Google just announced a big change to the search box.... announced at their I/O event.

The white search bar is being turned into a dynamic AI tool powered by Gemini 3.5 Flash.

• The box expands as you type. Encouraging a move away from just keywords to handle longer conversational descriptions.
• Instead of basic autocomplete, the AI will actively suggest better ways for users to formulate their questions.
• Users can throw text, images, files, videos, and even active Chrome tabs into the search bar all at once.
• Searchers can jump straight from an AI Overview into a full conversation, and Google will remember the entire history of the search journey.
• It will still provide a range of search results.

This is starting to roll out today in countries and languages where AI Mode is available.

The Datos State of Search Report Q1 2026 shows some interesting insights.

Traditional search is outgrowing AI. In Q1 2026, traditional search grew by 0.47%, while AI tools grew by only 0.34%.

"Yes but AI mode in google is massive". No it isnt. It holds less than 0.2% of event share (peaking at 0.16% in March 2026).

ChatGPT has plateaued/declined for six months, with its peak back in September 2025. Gemini maintains the #2 spot and continues to grow.

A lot of “AI is replacing search” takes are still narrative-driven. But human behavioral change is a sloooooow process.

https://preview.redd.it/91eg6fbagwzg1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46618c8351c6bc8ed0c39d6a0eab7c9f46110466

https://preview.redd.it/utn976wagwzg1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10b5c89a0f4a5a0d770378ccdd5f71e59bc5241d

https://preview.redd.it/v38rx09bgwzg1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ca0414a9e4d7bdd75e47cfbc9ff924b0c8ed0708

https://preview.redd.it/h071t0jbgwzg1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0f1f8fba858cf492ad2d3a4be94e184493ed98bd

Theyve started showing ads to logged-out users in the US, is it a hint that their original plan isn't working as expected?

The walled garden of logged in users isn't big enough to support the financial goals of the company. Some might say this is a natural evolution to open more inventory.

But reports also indicate that OpenAI has slashed minimum buy-in budgets from $200,000 down to around $50,000. You don’t drop your entry price by 75% if you are over delivering on your promises.

Demand is high, but the reach is the bottleneck. Plenty of companies want to advertise, but ChatGPT literally don't have enough conversations within which to place relevant ads.

Expanding to non logged in users could be the only way to reach the targets required!