The trouble is that monetization and usefulness tend to be in conflict. It starts out as, show affiliate links if there are any. Then it turns into, prefer targets that we have affiliate agreements for. Then, don't show products unless we have affiliate agreements. Then, prioritize ones that give us more money. And on and on.
If they want to capture some of the value they provide, they should do it the standard fashion where they directly capture value from me by having me pay.
Yes unfortunately, the forces of enshittification will be at play with any model provider that has had billions invested in it.
> If they want to capture some of the value they provide, they should do it the standard fashion where they directly capture value from me by having me pay.
That would be ideal, and that's what their subscription products are for, but even their free versions provide so much value that is hard to capture. That's what I meant by chatbots being constrained by their "Free Internet app" form-factor... Consumers on the Internet largely just are not willing to pay, nobody managed to get micro-payments to work, and so the reserve currency of the web is ads.
If they want to capture some of the value they provide, they should do it the standard fashion where they directly capture value from me by having me pay.