Google’s AI Mode shows the same products at higher prices than regular Search, study finds – If you’ve been letting Google’s AI Mode handle your purchasing research, you might want to double-check those costs. Researchers at Product Rise observed that when the identical product appeared in both AI Mode and conventional Google Search, the AI-powered experience revealed a price that was 21.6% higher on average.
The study evaluated AI Mode to regular Google Search
The team did the identical shopping queries through both versions at the same time, throughout the US and UK. They discovered that the 21.6% difference is really a headline.
If you look at all products on both sides, not just the corresponding ones, AI Mode’s typical pricing stands roughly 49% higher. That’s a median of $149 in comparison to $100 in standard search. Prices differed on 38% of the products they tracked, and when they did not, AI Mode was the most expensive one approximately two thirds of the time.
Here’s the other unusual thing. Only 1.28% of the products in standard search also turned up in AI Mode for the same query. So most of the time, you’re seeing a whole different lineup. The main seller was changed nearly half the time too, which implies AI Mode isn’t merely reshuffling the same offerings. It’s picking different ones.
Google’s comments regarding the results
Google pushed back when Futurism contacted out for comments on this study. The business claimed it hasn’t checked the study’s veracity, and that every shopping result on Google Search, AI Mode and the conventional results page alike, pulls from the same underlying Shopping Graph data.
According to the firm, “shoppers can easily click into a product listing to compare prices for that product across retailers and choose the best option for them.”
That’s theoretically accurate, but it throws the work straight back on you. I am sure there are many unwary buyers who assume the price they see first is the best one available, and AI Mode’s entire pitch is saving you the effort of comparing. If you still have to click through and examine every listing yourself, it’s reasonable to ask why AI Mode is being touted as the smarter way to shop.
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