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>You can now use Claude to search the internet to provide more up-to-date and relevant responses. It's a search engine. You 'ask it to read the web' just like

>You can now use Claude to search the internet to provide more up-to-date and relevant responses. It's a search engine. You 'ask it to read the web' just like you asked Google to, except Google used to actually give the website traffic. I appreciate the concept of an AI User-agent, but without a business model that pays for the content creation, this is just going to lead to the death of anonymously accessible content.

darepublic 2y ago
Well I expect eventually the agent will be able to act on your behalf with your credentials.
- elefanten 2y ago
  And as advertisers get declining human views on their ads, the value of the business model will dwindle until it needs to be replaced by other forms of revenue. Content that can't shift business models and requires revenue to continue will die off. Edit: Maybe that's fine, maybe that's bad. Maybe new models will emerge and things will reshape. But I'm just supporting the case that AI agents will pressure the current "free" content economy.
  - beeflet 2y ago
    the free content economy is bogus, I am part of a growing segment of users that just block ads anyways.
    - disiplus 2y ago
      I'm also and I pay for the services that I use to not see ads, but I don't pay for every single one. For example a local classified website is financed by ads, and I don't think anybody will pay for just looking at stuff there. Maybe they can switch to the model where the person puting the thing for sale would pay but hat is something where we are not currently.
      - Alupis 2y ago
        If that's the case, then you might as well just list it on eBay and skip the local classifieds/craigslist/facebook/whatever. Is that a world we actually want?
- jimbokun 2y ago
  Which is fine if you’re paying for a subscription. Will probably soon see one subscription rate allowing AI access on your behalf, and a lower rate without that access. Since a human accessing without a bot is likely to see the ads.
losteric 2y ago
What was the web like before wide spread internet ads, auth, and search engines? Did all those old sites have “business models”? What did the web feel like back then? (This is rhetorical - I had niche hobby sites back then, in the same way some people put out free zines, and wouldn’t give a damn about today’s AI agents so long as they were respectful. The web was better back then, and I believe AI slop and agents brings us closer to full circle)
- jfim 2y ago
  It was much smaller and people wrote on Usenet to connect with one another, not to shout in the void while corporations hoover all the content.
- a4isms 2y ago
  I recall a hotelier who advertised free WiFi at a time when everyone thought that monetizing WiFi was a hot new revenue stream. "What," he was asked, "is the business model for free WiFi?" "What," he retorted, "is the business model for free washrooms?"
- pixl97 2y ago
  The web was so much smaller back then. Just imagine I turned the user (not automated in any way) based clicks that can occur from a link like reddit today towards your site then. We called it the slashdot effect way back, but that many clicks might take down the entire ISP. Many of these sites business model was simply "don't cost too much". The moment the web got big a lot of these sites died. Now add DDOS for fun and profit became a thing, most people moved to huge advertising based providers/hosters (think FB). Simply put, we're never getting the old web back. Now, we may get something new, but it will be different and still far more commercial.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- scarface_74 2y ago
  X11 pop under ads were a thing around at least 2001 https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=88041&page=1 https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=88041&page=1 As were punch the monkey and similar banner ads https://www.computerworld.com/article/1360466/i-refuse-to-punch-the-monkey.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/1360466/i-refuse-to-pu... When was the great age of the web that wasn’t inundated with ads and SEO? It was really easy on old school search engines like Altavista.
beeflet 2y ago
IDK bittorrent is pretty effective at hosting bytes. I think if something like IPFS takes off in our generation there will be no need for advertising as an excuse for covering hosting costs in the client-server model. As for funding "content creation" itself, you have patronage.
wraptile 2y ago
You can't expect the benefits of public web without bearing the costs. Just put your stuff under a auth wall (can even be free) and no one will crawl it.

darepublic 2y ago

Well I expect eventually the agent will be able to act on your behalf with your credentials.

elefanten 2y ago
And as advertisers get declining human views on their ads, the value of the business model will dwindle until it needs to be replaced by other forms of revenue. Content that can't shift business models and requires revenue to continue will die off. Edit: Maybe that's fine, maybe that's bad. Maybe new models will emerge and things will reshape. But I'm just supporting the case that AI agents will pressure the current "free" content economy.
- beeflet 2y ago
  the free content economy is bogus, I am part of a growing segment of users that just block ads anyways.
  - disiplus 2y ago
    I'm also and I pay for the services that I use to not see ads, but I don't pay for every single one. For example a local classified website is financed by ads, and I don't think anybody will pay for just looking at stuff there. Maybe they can switch to the model where the person puting the thing for sale would pay but hat is something where we are not currently.
    - Alupis 2y ago
      If that's the case, then you might as well just list it on eBay and skip the local classifieds/craigslist/facebook/whatever. Is that a world we actually want?
jimbokun 2y ago
Which is fine if you’re paying for a subscription. Will probably soon see one subscription rate allowing AI access on your behalf, and a lower rate without that access. Since a human accessing without a bot is likely to see the ads.

losteric 2y ago

What was the web like before wide spread internet ads, auth, and search engines? Did all those old sites have “business models”? What did the web feel like back then? (This is rhetorical - I had niche hobby sites back then, in the same way some people put out free zines, and wouldn’t give a damn about today’s AI agents so long as they were respectful. The web was better back then, and I believe AI slop and agents brings us closer to full circle)

jfim 2y ago
It was much smaller and people wrote on Usenet to connect with one another, not to shout in the void while corporations hoover all the content.
a4isms 2y ago
I recall a hotelier who advertised free WiFi at a time when everyone thought that monetizing WiFi was a hot new revenue stream. "What," he was asked, "is the business model for free WiFi?" "What," he retorted, "is the business model for free washrooms?"
pixl97 2y ago
The web was so much smaller back then. Just imagine I turned the user (not automated in any way) based clicks that can occur from a link like reddit today towards your site then. We called it the slashdot effect way back, but that many clicks might take down the entire ISP. Many of these sites business model was simply "don't cost too much". The moment the web got big a lot of these sites died. Now add DDOS for fun and profit became a thing, most people moved to huge advertising based providers/hosters (think FB). Simply put, we're never getting the old web back. Now, we may get something new, but it will be different and still far more commercial.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
scarface_74 2y ago
X11 pop under ads were a thing around at least 2001 https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=88041&page=1 https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=88041&page=1 As were punch the monkey and similar banner ads https://www.computerworld.com/article/1360466/i-refuse-to-punch-the-monkey.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/1360466/i-refuse-to-pu... When was the great age of the web that wasn’t inundated with ads and SEO? It was really easy on old school search engines like Altavista.

beeflet 2y ago

IDK bittorrent is pretty effective at hosting bytes. I think if something like IPFS takes off in our generation there will be no need for advertising as an excuse for covering hosting costs in the client-server model. As for funding "content creation" itself, you have patronage.

wraptile 2y ago

You can't expect the benefits of public web without bearing the costs. Just put your stuff under a auth wall (can even be free) and no one will crawl it.