If Google only takes and never gives, then sites cannot profit. What is the incentive to publish if the only outcome is feeding Google’s AI with no return? What sources will LLMs have to pull from if all the sources are defunct? How far will Google go folding adverts into their AI output?
I can see the huge short-term gain for Google, but I see no long-term path – not even an unsustainable one. This feels like the end, but of exactly what I’m uncertain.
A lot of people can’t afford to pay for every website and webapp they use. Not everyone is in a first-world country with a lot of discretionary income.
WhatsApp (pre Meta acquisition) used to charge $1/year and even that was a barrier for a significant number of users, particularly in developing countries.
The only free models that work are either to use ads, to have a freemium service (where the paid users subsidize the free users), or to have someone else cover the cost for you (which is how it works on most Lemmy servers for example).