I was wondering why Google seemed so worried about ChatGPT. ChatGPT seems poised to make the web much worse, filled with BS. But that doesn't sound like a big threat to Google. It seems like this might make users more likely to trust ads than to trust plain ol' articles on the web; and ads are Google's bread and butter.

Then I told ChatGPT that I was thinking of buying an umbrella and asked for some product recommendations. It happily recommended some actual, existing umbrellas. (I was kinda worried it would just go ahead and make up some fictional umbrellas and then confidently recommend them.)

OK, now I can see why Google could worry about ChatGPT. What if people trust ChatGPT more than they trust Google's ads? That sounds pretty plausible and like bad news for Google.