Google, about to change the internet forever: why the death of its classic search engine worries the entire web

The change was presented during Google I/O 2026the company’s annual developer conference. There, Google showed a new search experience powered by artificial intelligence which combines automatic responses, dynamic interfaces, agents capable of collecting information and personalized functions.

The bet marks a profound shift in the way the internet has worked for decades. Until now, Google operated as a gateway to millions of websites. With the new system, however, the search engine It starts to become a closed environment where much of the experience occurs without leaving the company’s ecosystem.

“We believe that the best version of Search It is one created specifically for each user,” he stated. Robbie Steinvice president of product at Google Search.

The phrase summarizes the heart of the new strategy: replacing traditional searches with a conversational and personalized experience powered by AI.

The new Search abandons the classic format of hierarchical results to prioritize answers created automatically by artificial intelligence. Instead of typing a few keywords and receiving a list of pages, users will be able to ask complex questions and have conversations within the search engine.

Google explained that the search box will grow dynamically to accept longer and more contextual queries. Additionally, it will incorporate AI-powered suggestions to help formulate more sophisticated questions.

The company will also expand AI Overviews y AI Fashionfeatures that already offer automatic responses within Search. Users will be able to do chained questions without the need to open new searches nor manually navigate between websites.

Los links externos They will continue to appear, but they will no longer occupy the main role.

Google also showed new visual experiences generated in real time. A query about black holes, for example, could automatically be transformed into a custom interactive animation. According to the company, these tools were developed together with Google DeepMind and work with Gemini Flash 3.5.

Another of the most relevant announcements was the arrival of the so-called “information agents”: intelligent agents capable of autonomously monitoring the internet 24 hours a day.

These systems will be able to track information, detect changes and send automatic updates to the user. Google showed examples related to financial tracking, product launch alerts, and monitoring of certain specific topics.

The company also confirmed that Search will allow you to create small custom applications within the search engine itself using commands in natural language. Google defines them as “mini apps” capable of organizing tasks, planning meals or generating physical training routines.

The transformation generates concern in digital media, content creators and companies that They depend on traffic from Google.

For years, the search engine functioned as the great distributor of internet audience: Users asked a query, found links, and visited external sites. But the emergence of AI tools has already begun to modify that scheme.

Con AI OverviewsGoogle started answering questions directly within Search through automatic summaries. Now, the new system deepens that logic even further.

In the digital industry, a term is already circulating to describe this possible scenario: “Google Zero”. The expression refers to a possible extreme drop in traffic derived from Google to independent media and pages.

Concern grew because new intelligent agents could perform much of the search process without human intervention. Instead of navigating between different pages, the user would directly receive a synthesis processed by artificial intelligence.

“Search “You can build personalized experiences for individual questions, with dynamic layouts, interactive visualizations, and persistent spaces,” he explained. Liz Reidhead of the search engine.

Google assured that AI Overviews already exceeds 2.5 billion monthly users and AI Fashion reaches more than 1,000 million per month. With this strategy, the company seeks to consolidate itself in the face of the advance of conversational platforms such as ChatGPT.

Most of the new features will begin rolling out during the US summer. Some advanced tools will be available first to paid subscribers of Google AI Pro and Ultraalthough the company announced that many they will end up being free.

The CEO of Google, Sundar Pichaiassured that the objective is to expand access to artificial intelligence on a global scale.

But behind the technological promise appears a deeper discussion: What will happen to the open web if fewer and fewer people need to leave the search engine to find information. For much of the internet, that transition has already begun.