Last call to register for a free online spot to follow the conference live
The open internet as we know it is rapidly changing, stress speakers of the foremost web scraping conference OxyCon. The free-to-register virtual event, held on 1st October, will tackle a seismic shift redefining the digital world – the increasing fragmentation of the web and changing rules of access to information.
OxyCon is an annual virtual event for business and tech leaders and data professionals. This year’s edition will focus on the AI-driven era of web scraping and how this revolution changes the whole structure of the internet.
The death of an empty search box
One of the most profound digital shifts is the move away from traditional search engines. Rytis Ulys, Head of Data, Analytics, and AI at Oxylabs and speaker at OxyCon, notes that the traditional “empty search box”, which has defined internet navigation for two decades, is becoming obsolete.
According to Rytis, what we’re now seeing is only the early stages – ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI assistants are becoming people’s first stop for many queries instead of Google. This will accelerate dramatically as AI gets integrated directly into browsers, operating systems, and websites themselves.
“This will lead to a more seamless and hands-free online experience, where your voice or natural language commands can manage everything from your schedule to your smart home devices. The economic implications are huge – if AI systems become the primary gateway to information, the ad-supported model that funds much of the current web gets disrupted. We’ll likely see new monetization models emerge around AI-mediated interactions”, – says Rytis Ulys.
At OxyCon, Rytis will show how to build a price comparison tool without writing a single line of code by using AI tools like Cursor and Oxylabs AI Studio. The attendees will have a chance to discuss with Rytis how such tools will enable non-technical talent to achieve even more in the near future.
Building the walls in the open web
Meanwhile, while AI is changing how we find information, the web itself is changing what information is available. According to Aleksandras Šulženko, Product Owner at Oxylabs, one of the major changes of the web will be caused by emerging anti-scraping measures. As many websites are now trying to prevent AI companies from training LLMs on their data, their measures are making the internet closed off and fragmented.
“To combat scraping, a lot of websites will hide their content behind a login wall, while others will try to sell their data in combination with strict anti-bot measures. Either way, the web is going to be harder to access for humans and bots alike”, – says Aleksandras.
More insights on the AI-driven web transformation await on 1st October at OxyCon. The conference is organized annually by a leading web intelligence provider, Oxylabs. Full agenda and registration for the event are available here.
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