Is Anticipated Search Still ‘Search’?
We're on the cusp of a search revolution. AI will not just answer your questions but could anticipate your needs and even act on them. I believe the future of search advertising lies in this hyper-personalisation, powered by personal AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini interacting with the advertising ecosystem.
Imagine AI overviews on Google search pages potentially being augmented by a deep understanding of you – your interests gleaned from conversations, your musical tastes from YouTube, even your style preferences from photos in your social feed or cloud storage.
Whilst not possible today, this does not seem a stretch for the near future. And many users will opt in, recognising the benefit of trading their data for truly relevant results and even proactive assistance which could eventually demote the importance of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
From Search Agents to Action Agents
This evolution takes us beyond simple search results. Anticipate AI overviews being paired with your own personal AI chatbot, evolving to take action on your behalf, empowered by this rich understanding of your needs and preferences built up over time. This isn't just about personalised results; it's about AI proactively streamlining your life.
Picture this: You’re a busy professional juggling life’s demands but never getting time to get those personal finances in order. Your AI chatbot integrates with your bank accounts, credit cards and investment platforms. It learns your spending patterns, savings habits and financial goals. It proactively notices unused subscriptions and prompts you that it can cancel them on your behalf. It also identifies a better credit card to switch to to maximise your air miles for a future trip you’re saving for.
AI has just automated many search moments.
The Impact on Advertising
This shift has profound implications for advertising. Instead of just serving ads, AI can facilitate transactions and create seamless, personalised experiences. For advertisers, this means moving beyond impressions and clicks to focus on experiences and outcomes. The focus will be on attention and engagement for people and could be something entirely different for bots. This shift poses many questions.
How do we capture and hold user interest in a world of highly tailored experiences? How do we measure the effectiveness of AI-driven actions? How do we build trust and transparency in this new landscape? How do we optimise our content to be best understood and picked up by AI crawlers? What happens when the internet has more bots crawling it than people?
The Next Era of Search
This future of search is about frictionless insight. It's not just about finding information; it's about information finding you, synthesised and personalised. Imagine a world where the barriers between query and answer dissolve. AI chatbots can act as a conductor, seamlessly aggregating information from multiple sources – your past searches, your calendar, your preferences – to deduce precisely what you need, even before you fully articulate it. This "frictionless" aspect removes the traditional effort involved in searching, sifting, and connecting the dots. The AI does the heavy lifting, presenting you with concise, actionable insights, freeing you to focus on what truly matters. It's about moving from information retrieval to information anticipation.
Rethinking Metrics for the Future
This new paradigm demands a fresh approach to measurement, prioritising quality over sheer quantity and focusing on metrics like attention and engagement. AI will shift the focus from reaching an audience to empowering them. I'm eager to explore how we can leverage these advancements to create a more helpful and engaging experience for everyone.
KINESSO has many technical teams creating and testing hypotheses to assess what this evolution of search means for advertisers. If you would like to discuss your business with them, please get in touch.
Final Thoughts
AI is moving from simply answering questions to anticipating needs and taking action. For advertisers, it’s about creating value, not just gaining attention. For users, it’s about less effort and more relevance. This shift brings new responsibilities - trust, transparency, and meaningful utility matter more than ever. Anticipated search may no longer look like traditional search, but it offers something even more powerful: a system that understands and supports you in real time. The real challenge is building this future in a way that truly helps people and respects their choices.