Costs And Clicks
People are clicking on fewer and fewer Google Search ads, reports Search Engine Roundtable.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said during a recent investor call that ads on pages with AI Overviews (AIOs) perform similarly to ads on pages without AI-generated responses. However, Google has a poor track record when it comes to forthrightly communicating the ramifications of its AI products.
Google execs, including Pichai in this interview with The Verge from May, repeatedly insist that AIOs distribute traffic to a greater range of sites – which is plainly untrue.
From Google’s perspective, though, the baseline performance of ads on pages with or without AIOs could be the same. And that’s because it’s making just as much money, regardless of whether advertisers and publishers are suffering.
Yes, there are fewer people clicking Google ads, but there is actually greater demand on a wider range of search queries. Through products like Smart Bidding, Google’s AI controls a brand’s search keywords and bids on a wider range of searches, SER reports.
“AIOs are cannibalizing high-intent keywords,” speculates search marketing consultant Drew Cannon. “And Google seems to be using Smart Bidding to ensure revenue goals are still met.”
Last Click, Indeed
WPP had a rough first half of 2025. It started the year trading at about $51 (already down from $62 the year before that) and sank to $39 at the end of June.
And just yesterday, WPP shares plummeted to $29 after the holdco downgraded its earnings forecast for the rest of the year.
“Performance in June was worse than anticipated, and we expect this pattern of trading in the first half to continue into the second half,” CEO Mark Read, who will step down from the role at the end of the year, told investors in an impromptu update – not a regular quarterly earnings.
Read cited “a challenging trading environment with macro pressures intensifying,” Adweek reports. And although he didn’t specify how the new US tariff policies are affecting WPP’s agencies, he did mention “lower net new business.”
CFO Joanne Wilson acknowledged that WPP’s loss of Coca-Cola’s media business in North America also hurt. Coke went to Publicis after a recent review, as have other blue-chip clients, including Paramount and Mars.
Browsing For New Options
Generative AI search engine Perplexity is trying to do the impossible; it’s attempting to out-Google Google.
For starters, Perplexity is perhaps the most aggressive of the new players in the AI search category when it comes to pursuing ad revenue.
And now it’s got Comet, an AI-powered web browser that features its built-in AI search engine. (And it’s not the only one! Comet went live on Wednesday, and later that day, several sources revealed that OpenAI will be launching its own anti-Chrome – er, web browser – in the coming weeks.)
Comet also includes an AI agent called Comet Assistant that answers questions and can automate some tasks.
TechCrunch notes that more complex tasks – like booking restaurant reservations, let alone airplane tickets – are beyond Comet Assistant’s current abilities and can lead to some pretty wonky hallucinations.
Comet Assistant is better at simpler tasks, like summarizing webpage content and emails. Oh, and if you’re willing to hand over complete access to every detail of your Google account, it can also remind you about upcoming events, calendar items or provide transit directions.
For now, Comet is only available to subscribers of Perplexity’s Max plan and a handful of people who signed up for a waitlist. Eventually, Perplexity’s leadership hopes that it will become the default browser.
Which, good luck.
But Wait! There’s More
Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion, details how the site ditched programmatic advertising in favor of a print- and subscription-based business model and also launched its own creative agency. [Status]
X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced she’s stepping down a day after the platform’s Grok AI praised Hitler. She did not provide a reason for her resignation, however. [Axios]
Grok’s recent stint of defamatory posts could lead to a ban of the platform in Turkey. [Bloomberg]
Ed Zitron: Is the AI industry in a subprime mortgage-style crisis? [Where’s Your Ed At?]
The Senate has nine days to approve President Trump’s proposed funding cuts to NPR and PBS. Meanwhile, at least five states have reduced funding for public media so far this year. [CNN Reliable Sources]
You’re Hired!
Amazon-backed creator financing company Spotter hired Walmart and Snap vet Jodie Stocker Kennedy as CRO. [Variety]
Marketing advisory firm MediaSense appointed Chris Banschbach as chief technology and innovation officer. [release]
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