A Future Without Physical Ads: A Vision for an Augmented World
Imagine a world where advertisements are everywhere while our physical environment remains ad-free—no billboards, no intrusive signage.
Envision a future where all advertising is virtual, seen only when you choose to engage. It’s a future we can make real, and it could change everything about how we interact with technology and each other.
Liz B. Baker - Richmond, VA
ChatGPT Search and a New Era of Information
The October 31 launch of ChatGPT’s real-time search for paid users brings instant, accurate answers to questions, with references cited and without the clutter of ad-driven results. Yes, Perplexity and other tools have already been doing this, but ChatGPT remains, in my opinion, the top Generative AI tool.
Consider my first test of ChatGPT’s new web search: “Who won the 2024 World Series, what was the score, sum up the game in 3 bullets.”
My first question to ChatGPT’s new real-time internet search.
Even before OpenAI’s announcement today, I've been telling audiences I speak to that, if they did nothing else, they should try ChatGPT as a search engine, and I reminisce about a time when Google had an "I'm feeling lucky" button.
You'd enter your search, press the button, and it would take you directly to the page it thought would answer your question accurately. As an aside, I hadn't thought about it until now, but I'm wondering if they got rid of that feature because 1) it was too often incorrect, or 2) because it was too often correct, and to increase ad revenue, they went to a model that showed sponsored results, etc.
No matter. That is what ChatGPT does now. Instead of searching a standard web browser and rifling through 10+ pages to find the answer, now, you simply ask, and it’s often right immediately. Plus, as I showed in my example above, you define your own, focused search parameters.
AI Search & the Implications for Ad-Based Search Engine Models
Google’s revenue model primarily relies on advertising. In turn, organizations rely on Google ads to win customers. As we move to ad-free search solutions, the current model is at risk. It has to change. Though, we're not at a point where everyone has ditched Google for other search methods, it's possible that it's not far off. I’d hate for the need for revenue to degrade the customer experience.
This has exciting prospects for Google’s future—and ours.
Many futuristic movies show a world full of advertisements—ads physically on everything. Idiocracy comes to mind. But if we're moving toward highly personalized experiences, maybe there's a different world available.
I was chatting with CBS-6's Jonathan Bowman about how this new search might change Google's revenue model and advertising in general. It was great timing because API aficionado, Chris Busse, Chief Innovation Officer of Richmond API experts, Terazo, had just let me test out his Meta glasses. (I'm buying a pair asap. More on that later.)
AI Search + AR Glasses = A Future that Could Look Both High and Low-Tech
When talking about the next iteration of glasses, Chris asked us to envision this scenario:
You go into a restaurant and pull up a virtual menu.
You virtually circle what you like, order, and “pin” the menu virtually to the wall.
The next time you come to the restaurant, the glasses know where you are.
The menu you virtually pinned to the wall is still there, right where you put it, circles and all.
He mentioned that marketing could be applied to the menu.
Imagine that the futuristic movies are wrong.
As someone who loves the natural world, the AR glasses helped me envision a future physical environment that is beautifully ad-free—where ads are seen only when reality is augmented. But—
What if someone doesn’t have glasses? Maybe the business loans glasses that are programmed to list specials, sponsors, and ads.
How will AR glasses fit over existing glasses? I don’t know, but it’s something to think about.
Maybe glasses aren’t the solution. What other AR solutions exist? What if it’s simply something you hold up? Think about how a phone camera overlays a link when it’s pointed at a QR code.
Ad space doesn’t have to hold one ad. Virtual ad spaces can support unlimited layers of personalized content that is both user and business-generated.
Ads should be opt-in only. Create incentives for people to "opt-in."
Create highly personalized, excellent ad content that is helpful, interesting, and within the user's control, rather than intrusive (non-intrusive pause ads come to mind).
For search engines, move to a paid model or, again, create incentives for people to use a version that is advertisement-saturated.
With the rise of AI-augmented internet search and the exciting prospects of augmented reality like Meta's glasses, we're on the cusp of a significant shift in how we access information and experience the world— including advertising. Existing virtual worlds like Pokémon Go already have entire worlds overlayed on ours. It’s time that the world of advertisements do the same.
A Bright, Beautiful Augmented Future
Interestingly, instead of being bombarded by physical ads, technology may soon allow us to create a world where advertisements are everywhere but only seen on opt-in, allowing humans to enjoy both natural and augmented reality.
This transformation will redefine search engines and advertising models, and hopefully, it will enhance our daily interactions, making them more personalized, user-controlled, and less intrusive.
P.S. Nov. 1: Note that I’m not against advertising and promotion at all. In fact, I’m a huge fan of brilliant, beautiful, intentional advertising. In some cases, saturated advertising spaces are even charming or stunning. Times Square, the ad-covered walls at Richmond’s baseball stadium, and the ad-saturated Boychick’s Deli in Richmond’s West End come to mind. On the other hand, I won’t forget the wearisome advertising on broadcast TV as we counted down the last minutes of 2023 during the New Year’s Countdown to 2024. Stunning in a really bad way. And how about the universally despised ads that stop a video midstream? The whole point is, we can have it all as long as we’re intentional, know our audience, and elevate user experience.
Liz B. Baker is the Founder of Nimbology and serves as the Community Engagement Chair on the Board of Directors for AI Ready RVA. She specializes in leadership + AI consulting, driving transformative impact across Fortune 500s, SMBs, nonprofits, and startups. Connect with Liz on LinkedIn to explore how AI can elevate your organization.