India, May 22 -- Once upon a time, Google searched for and returned a list of URLs. Now, it will be a machine that answers questions. Through AI mode and AI summaries, Google is asking us to ask longer questions and get a simple answer so we can continue the conversation without having to jump from site to site. It'd be wonderful if we could open 12 tabs just to get the answer.

Now for the plot twist: If Google presents you with an answer from the start, you may never have to visit the sites that generated that information.

This creates tremendous implications for the trade-off that existed between publishers and Google for almost 30 years as publishers created content, Google helped people to locate the content, and users clicked throu...