Google Search: From search tool to advertising machine
The search experience, now Times Square edition
Doing a Google Search in 2025 feels a bit like standing in the middle of Times Square. Advertising is everywhere. Organic results — once the heart of Google’s mission — are now buried under a mountain of sponsored content. You click, scroll, and search again… often without finding what you’re really looking for.
The problem isn’t the technology — Google is still an incredibly powerful machine. But its execution has slid into a model increasingly driven by monetization, to the detriment of the user experience.
The decline of organic search
There was a time when creating quality content was enough to gain visibility. Today, you also need to master an ever-more complex SEO landscape, which is highly competitive — and expensive. Small businesses and independent creators are often buried under pages of results dominated by those with hefty ad budgets.
The issue? Access to relevant, unbiased information. A search engine that favors the highest bidder is no longer a neutral tool — it becomes a pay-to-play media platform.
The rise of generative search: One step further toward uniformity
With the rise of generative AI, Google no longer just suggests links — it provides summaries and answers. But at what cost? While it may seem convenient, these AI-generated answers often rely on generic or unreliable sources, reducing the diversity of content and perspectives available to users.
And let’s not forget: generative responses bring with them new monetization strategies.
A web ecosystem in flux
At Kryzalid, we guide our clients through a digital environment in constant flux. And this paradigm shift in search is forcing us — like many others — to ask some essential questions:
- How do we stay visible without getting lost in the race for clicks?
- How do we prioritize authenticity in content?
- How do we help our clients stand out in an algorithm-driven ecosystem?
The answer may lie in diversification.
Social platforms: The new frontier for discovery
TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit… these platforms have evolved far beyond “social.” They’re now powerful discovery engines, serving up human, engaging, and highly contextualized content — often more relevant than what you’ll find on traditional search pages.
And most importantly, they bring back an element of curiosity and exploration.
So, is Google Search dying?
Not quite. But it’s definitely evolving — and not necessarily in a way that benefits everyone. For agencies like Kryzalid, for creators, and for SMBs, the challenge is clear: adapt, reinvent, and rethink how we approach search and visibility.
Maybe this “crisis” in search is actually an opportunity to put users — real humans — back at the center of our strategies.
