Google Is a Parasite — And Everyone Else Is Paying the Price

Google just got fined $1 billion by the EU for violating the Digital Markets Act. Regulators are signaling AI Overviews and AI Mode may be next. In this week’s Shimmy Says, Alan Shimel makes the argument the media industry has been whispering for two years: Google is a parasite — and everyone else is paying the price.

What Alan Argues

Old Google indexed the open web and sent readers to publishers. However, new Google wants to be the destination itself. Publishers already have a name for what’s coming: “Google Zero.” In this episode, Alan explains the reckoning. Moreover, he lays out what agencies, vendors, publishers and audiences all have to change to survive it. If Google is a parasite, the rest of the ecosystem has to build a new deal.

The Argument in Brief

Google is a parasite because it takes content and keeps the click. In addition, the EU fine and looming AI Overviews scrutiny prove regulators are catching on. Therefore, the old symbiotic web deal is over.

Chapters

00:00 The EU just proved my point
02:00 Google Is a Parasite — the argument, out loud
04:00 Why AI Overviews are no different from AI training theft
06:30 Old Google was symbiotic. New Google wants to be the destination
08:30 Google Zero — the future publishers are preparing for
10:30 The Brooklyn deli parable
12:30 The ripple effect: vendors, agencies, publishers
15:00 The audience relationship must change too
17:30 The Jerry Maguire moment
19:30 Google built the fence. We have to change the terms