Will AI challenge Google's monopoly?

Since the launch of ChatGPT, many artificial intelligence-based search engines have emerged, which is contributing to radically changing the way online searches are conducted. It is still early to say whether web browsing, as we know it, will be revolutionized by AI, but if the interest in these new search engines continues to remain high, among the entities most threatened by this transformation could be none other than Google itself. It is not excluded that services like ChatGPT or equivalents could effectively replace traditional search engines in the future. Already today, instead of typing keywords hoping that Google provides the best result, AIs often allow - in response to precise questions - to directly obtain the discursive answers that were being sought, along with a series of further reading links - something that is highly appreciated by users and is becoming a standard. All this, at least for now, without advertising - which represents the business model upon which Google has built its empire. AI services, however, also promise to enhance the quality of search results. More and more users believe that those offered by Google - which now controls over 90 percent of the market - are less reliable than a few years ago, due to the abundance of advertisements. The issue concerns the increasing share of sponsored content, visually indistinguishable from non-sponsored content. But there is also debate about the functioning of Google's algorithm, and more generally the quality of content selection offered by the search engine in response to user queries - therefore promoted as better than others.

What Happens When Search Engines Utilize AI

According to the technology news site The Information, OpenAI is reportedly working on a product for online searches. But it's not just the larger, more structured entities moving in this field. Perplexity, for example, is one of the startups that has garnered attention: born in 2022, it has developed a chatbot capable of web browsing while also serving as a personal assistant to users. Another player in this sector not to be underestimated is Arc Search, which is a cross between a browser and traditional AI: one of its most appreciated features, for example, allows for generating summaries of individual web pages visited. Integrating artificial intelligence systems into search engines, to a greater or lesser extent, is something that not only threatens the existence of Google but also that of those who create the online content shown - which monetize precisely through the generated traffic. At the same time, however, and in an almost paradoxical manner, AIs "feed" on the content present on the web, which is essential for their development, especially to provide updated answers on current events. All this is generating a new type of business, which is feared to crush many small creators. Exactly in this direction goes the $60 million annual agreement signed between Reddit and Google, where the former has given permission to use the content produced by users on the social network for the future development of AIs.

Is AI Applied to the Web Just a Bubble?

The general enthusiasm for artificial intelligences is driving companies of all sizes to invest in these systems, albeit without a completely precise plan. According to some, the real margins for large-scale application of AI have been overestimated, beyond the initial enthusiasm. Google's artificial intelligence, for example, is linked to Gmail, where it can be used to compose or summarize messages. In this way, however, users end up exploiting artificial intelligences that are themselves very sophisticated, complex to develop, and costly for companies mainly to carry out rather mundane tasks. In this regard, the Wall Street Journal, in an article about the difficulty of generating profits from artificial intelligence, had written that using AI to summarize an email is like using a Lamborghini to deliver a pizza. The same problem concerns search engines: Microsoft, for example, was among the first companies to harness the power of AI applied to online searches, following huge investments; yet it has not even come close to scratching Google's monopoly, despite the high initial expectations, capturing just 1% of the search engine market.