If you use Gmail, you have probably encountered Gemini, their intrusive new AI "assistant." It "assists" you in the same way a used car salesman "assists" you in choosing a car. If you thought Microsoft Word's Clippy was bad, you will really, really hate Gemini.

For instance: A friend who's moving emailed me her new address, and I searched her name and address in Gmail's search bar.

Up pops a scary summary of what we talked about in the email thread. And then I saw this today in The Lever:

Right now, Google’s revenue stream comes from advertising via its search monopoly. Search queries are cheap, and the ads Google sells are pricey due to its market power, so it’s a very profitable business.

Gemini, by contrast, is expensive to operate and generates no revenue. Even if Google were able to shift all of its search advertising revenue to Gemini, it would be moving from an extremely high-margin business to a lower-margin one. So what’s actually going on?

The answer, as it turns out, is that Google may be seeking to become our central planner and price setter. The third announcement is the key tell. CEO Sundar Pichai said the company will sell not only marketing, but also price-coordinating services. In the documentation for the universal commerce protocol, Google lists “dynamic pricing” as a key tool for merchants. And Kroger, a partner of Google, already announced it will deploy Gemini, enriched with its own proprietary data, to do consumer pricing.

Remember when I recently wrote about this happening with food and Instacart?

Google is also creating a pilot of something called “direct offers.” Rather than just buying advertising, businesses will pay to allow Google to set prices when it makes recommendations to users through Gemini.

Here’s how Google presents it: “With Direct Offers, retailers set up relevant offers they want to feature in their campaign settings, and Google will use AI to determine when an offer is relevant to display.” So, for instance, as Gemini offers different tires to users based on its knowledge of their car and driving style, it could also offer different prices for those tires. Here’s a different example presented in Google’s marketing materials:

This new Google Ads pilot allows advertisers to present exclusive offers for shoppers who are ready to buy — like a special 20 percent off discount — directly in AI Mode.

Google already sends the most relevant products to meet your search criteria. But you're looking for a deal, right? Now, retailers can inject a special discount. But letting the search giant run pricing strategies is new.

Welcome to the Brave New World!

P.S. I just signed up for Proton mail.