The Internet is Quietly Adopting the Ad Tech Playbook — Without the Ads | By Nick Slavin

As AI revolutionizes how people plan and book travel online, the algorithms determining which content surfaces in AI-generated summaries are beginning to mirror the dynamics of digital advertising. This shift, however, will lead to a future where advertising plays a less dominant role than ever before.

Consider how digital advertising works today. When a user visits a hotel website, an auction begins behind the scenes. The site's supply-side platform shares information with an exchange, where advertisers compete for the chance to display an ad. The entire process happens in the blink of an eye, and the highest bidder wins.

Now, let's imagine that same auction model applied to content. For example, if a user asks Gemini, "What are the best hotels in Charleston for a romantic weekend?" eligible sources — from authoritative sites like Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure to the hotel's website — compete for visibility in Gemini's response. A new type of auction begins, where the most relevant, recent, accurate, and authoritative content wins. What goes away in this near-future world is the demand-side platform. In the next era of the internet, brands and publishers are bidding with quality content rather than dollars.

With the diminishing effectiveness of paid media budgets, brands can no longer rely on buying visibility to generate the demand necessary for downstream bookings and revenue. Instead, the competition is solely about the quality and utility of their content.

To win, brands must consistently produce content that meets the bar for inclusion in AI-generated summaries. Similar to Google search, ranking factors are roughly a 60/40 split between off-site factors (such as trusted media brands and review sites) and on-site tactics, including a regularly updated blog and structured content.

Search is being fundamentally reshaped in the generation of AI search. Boutique and lifestyle brands, long overshadowed by the big budgets of OTAs and global chains, now have a chance to reclaim visibility by producing relevant, high-quality content. AI levels the playing field, rewarding quality over budget and enabling lasting visibility without massive paid spend. Jess Kramer, operating partner of Techne Infiniti Ventures

As traditional advertising and SEO tactics lose their edge, the path forward is clear for brands that want to stay visible. To thrive in the content auction environment that is already here, brands must invest in compelling storytelling that outperforms authoritative publishers and competitor brands. The prize for investing? Content that wins the auction and creates scalable demand.