Generative AI has changed the advertising game, upping the pressure on Silicon Valley heavyweights to fight harder for online advertising dollars.

Long a dominant player in the ad business, Google is under particular strain not to be left behind by the chatbot takeover, as brands are figuring out how to use tools like ChatGPT to engage directly with consumers.

"Google will have to fight it out," said Vijay Viswanathan, associate dean of integrated marketing communications at Northwestern University. "Many brands will try to figure out how they can go directly to customers and how they can create personalized content with ChatGPT. We might see a shift, and companies like the Googles of the world will have to figure out their value in the marketplace."