AI, connected TV, and more: Google blames market shifts for open web decline

Google

Google is facing one of its biggest legal battles yet, as the US Department of Justice pushes for remedies that could break up its advertising business. Ahead of the proceedings, Google filed documents arguing that divesting parts of its ad tech arm would not solve market concerns. Instead, it claimed, such a move would “accelerate” the decline of the open web and harm publishers that depend on display ad revenues.

In the filing, Google pointed to shifting industry dynamics: AI transforming ad tech operations, the rise of non-open web formats such as Connected TV and retail media, and competitors channelling investments into these areas. Its line that “the open web is already in rapid decline” appears at odds with months of public assurances that search is driving more traffic to diverse websites than ever.

The admission highlights a tension: in the courtroom, Google has an incentive to portray itself as less dominant and less essential, while in public, it stresses its role as the lifeline of digital publishing. Independent publishers, meanwhile, have reported noticeable drops in traffic following Google Search algorithm updates and the rise of AI chatbots that keep users within search results rather than sending them to external sites.

According to a report by The Verge, in response to coverage of the filing, Google spokesperson Jackie Berté sought to narrow the interpretation. She argued that the line was being taken out of context and that the filing specifically referred to open-web display advertising, not the web as a whole, as per the report. According to Google, the real trend is that ad spend is shifting toward connected TV and retail media, cutting into traditional display ad budgets.

Whether semantic or not, the filing underscores the precarious state of online publishing. With AI-driven shifts in how information is accessed, the open web—and the advertising model that sustains much of it—is undeniably under pressure.