Kasturika G.’s Post

Is Google's search engine dominance under threat? Google’s dominance over the search engine market may be slipping. According to the data by GS Statcounter as of April 2024, the search engine giant's global market share has fallen to 86.99%, a record low in the last several years. It also revealed a sharp 4% decline in just one month, the largest drop recorded.   In the US, Google's market share dropped by nearly 10%, down to 77.52%.   On the other hand, its rivals, like Microsoft Bing and Yahoo Search are enjoying drastic surges in their respective market shares. Bing had a whopping 13% market share in the US, while Yahoo nearly tripled its global share to 3.06%, something that we didn't see after 2015.   It is also believed that Google is facing stiff competition from social media platforms. Studies conducted by Google itself suggest that nearly 40% of Gen Z use TikTok and Instagram instead of Google.   Further, the rise of generative AI, led by platforms, such as ChatGPT, may also be competing for a spot in Google's list of rivals.   While there's no official confirmation of the same, the discovery of SSL certificates for a new domain, "search. chatgpt. com," has sparked such speculations.   Considering all these data, it can be said that Google's near-monopoly may be facing a formidable competition, if ChatGPT enters the search arena. Although Google's Gemini chatbot is struggling to stay on par with the latest developments, ChatGPT's current popularity may be tough to surpass.   So, is Google losing its ground gradually?   Fortunately, NO! According to The Register (https://lnkd.in/g_3Tq5n6) Stat Counter apparently accepted that there was some kind of an anomaly in its April sample data, leading to such dramatic speculations.   Until the anomaly has been cleared, it will not be publishing any data for the time.   Such a relief, right?   However, there's no doubt about one thing though. "Search" is changing! It might not be today, but if Google doesn't buckle up soon and do something to revolutionize its search procedures by integrating AI-powered search, that day is probably not far when this would ACTUALLY HAPPEN without any data anomaly. #google #ai #seo

Tabrez Syed keeps sharing more insights in the AI ecosystem, the new developments, the movers and shakers. In this week's blog, Tabrez shares some staggering statistics kind of favouring why Google will win the AI search war. Here are some numbers from the article: "..... the scale of their data collection is mind-boggling. Gmail serves 1.8 billion users who send 121 billion emails daily. Google Photos stores 13 petabytes of images, enhanced with 2 trillion user-generated tags. This massive data advantage isn't just about quantity - it's about variety and quality. While competitors might have access to public web data, Google has two decades of refined search queries, user behaviors, and cross-platform interactions......" I guess I am going for the new Pixel 10 Pro as soon as it arrives :) #searchengines #searchAI

While Google's desktop share dipped slightly, its mobile share grew, leading to an overall increase from 90.85% to 91.1% globally. Bing also saw a minor increase, reaching 3.7% globally, while the market share of other search engines dipped. The report highlights the minimal impact of AI-based search engines on Google's dominance. "Emerging AI based search engine traffic still less that 0.3% of Google traffic," Bank of America states. BofA clarifies this includes ChatGPT, whose traffic reportedly declined 12% month-over-month to 98 million visits.

"In a world where everyone gets answers and doesn't have to click on links, the biggest loser is Google," - Perplexity CEO, Aravind Srinivas 👇 I think... 1️⃣ Search is going to fragment. Search is getting distributed out to the edges. Embedded in apps. In chats. In workflows. In devices. AI apis and competing models mean everyone platform will have the power to offer answers. Not just Google. 2️⃣ Will Google be the biggest loser? Google will almost certainly lose marketshare in search. Mostly because searches will increase and Google won't be the only answer engine. I think it's already happening. People are swapping out Google search for Perplexity, ChatGPT and others. 3️⃣ Google Gemini is definitely going to remain a leader in search and AI. But they are no longer the only game in town. 4️⃣ This is good for the consumers, but not publishers. People are going to be less likely to click on reference links. The days of 10 blue links are over. Why would they, if they already have the answer? 5️⃣ What will happen to Google's ads business? As long as Google continues to originate the majority of the web's traffic (eg. if Google remains your starting page), then they will continue to monetize ads. In fact, a case could be made that since Google's AI answers will diminish organic traffic out to publishers, it will push ad rates even higher as publishers scramble to make up for the loss in organic traffic. 🎯 Results: ~~~~~ ✅ Consumers win. ✅ Other apps win. ✅ Google still wins. ✖️ Publishers lose.

💰 Google 'considers charging' for premium search results powered by #AI. It is said to be exploring several ideas about how to use the technology, including incorporating enhanced search tools as part of its premium subscription services. Google's main search engine would remain free to use under the proposals, with additional content available to those who pay a fee. Adverts would continue to appear alongside search results, even for subscribers. 🌍 More than a billion people use the search tool every month, according to estimates. Google already charges for extra storage space and its "AI Premium" service, which provides access to its new Gemini AI assistant in Gmail and Docs. 🆕 But this would mark the first time that any of the company's core products would be put behind a #paywall. It said engineers have been working on developing the enhanced AI tools, but executives have yet to decide whether or when to launch the feature. 📰 A spokesperson for the company told Sky News: "We're not working on or considering an ad-free #search experience. As we've done many times before, we'll continue to build new #premium capabilities and services to enhance our subscription offerings across Google. We don't have anything to announce right now." This comes amid intense competition between tech firms over AI and how to use it, with some commentators accusing Google of struggling to keep up with rivals such as #ChatGPT. Last month it emerged that the company had decided to restrict its #AI #chatbot #Gemini from answering election-related questions in some countries due to concerns about the information being provided to users. In February, #Google also stopped the tool from generating images following complaints about "inaccurate" historical depictions of people. https://lnkd.in/ezxryGNa

🏒 We Need to Understand Where Our AUDIENCE Is Going to Be, Not Where They Were 🌐 Wayne Gretzky famously said, "Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” This philosophy is incredibly relevant in the evolving world of search. Search used to be synonymous with Google, but not anymore. It has transformed from a simple Q&A tool into a journey of exploration and discovery. Now, search is evolving into a dynamic experience—a CONVERSATION. Your customers will come from various channels—Bing, Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude. The days when the majority came from Google are fading. With OpenAI’s SearchGPT, we see yet another indication of what's to come. You can either see it as a threat or an opportunity. For those businesses who have only focused on Google, it's time for a shake-up. You need to be where your customers are going to be. They are no longer on Google alone. You now need to monitor search data on Bing and various other channels. Google is still a very important channel, but we need to track our performance on all channels where your customers are going to be. What you need to think about now is: How do you get into those conversations? And most importantly, once you have a shopper on your website, how do you keep them engaged? Be prepared to continue the CONVERSATION on-site. #search #AI #OpenAI #SearchGPT #digitalmarketing #SEO #innovation #FutureofSearch #GenAI

🔍 GOOGLE SEARCH MAY NO LONGER BE COMPLETELY FREE In a radical change to its business model, Google is considering charging users for content generated by SGE (Search Generative Experience), a search experience that uses AI to provide users with overviews of search topics. 🔑 Key Points: Google’s AI-powered search features could become part of its existing subscription services, with its traditional search engine still remaining free to use. It’s thought that, although subscribers will pay for AI-generated search response summaries, they will still receive ads, as they will when using the free Google Search. Although Google already charges users for Gemini and extra storage, this move marks the first time it’s put one of its core search products behind a paywall. 🤨 Why you should care: Google is contemplating this commercial shake-up as it tries to integrate AI into its search experience (to keep up with competition) while safeguarding its primary revenue source—its search-related ads—which makes $175B p/y. #google #generativeai #aitools https://lnkd.in/g6eqmSwt

Tons of major updates in the SEO and AI world over the past week: 📰 🔍 OpenAI has introduced SearchGPT, an AI-powered search engine poised to rival Google and Perplexity. The new service aims to revolutionize online searches with enhanced AI-driven capabilities. The product is currently in testing, with plans to integrate it into ChatGPT in the future. 🛒 Google is finishing its new Merchant Center and plans to shift all retailers there by September. The program will allow AI-powered content creation and enhanced analytics tools for e-commerce businesses, although many aren’t happy with its current performance. ⛔ Reddit is now blocking major search engine crawlers to prevent AI companies from using its data without authorization. Bing and DuckDuckGo, among others, have confirmed they’re blocked from crawling the forum. The change aims to protect user content and requires companies to establish licensing agreements for data access. Click that follow button to Ridarec’s Sunday news first. 👆 #Ridarec #SEONews #GoogleUpdates #OpenAI

One year ago, Bing released the GPT-powered search. A year and a half ago, OpenAI released ChatGPT. Both events created a strong narrative that Google will lose its core business model to Bing and ChatGPT. It was supposed to be a NEW DAY for search. Well, it is not. Bing gained 1.5% of the market share in the US, while Google lost 1.52%. Worldwide, Bing gained 0.62%, and Google lost 1.9%. It's not a new day for search. Google is still king. However, it is an excellent time to start if you have not created a Bing webmaster account and submitted a sitemap.