The Impact of ChatGPT on Online Search and Google’s Dominance

Photo: Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto (Getty Images)

Just as online search engines took our curiosities from the shelves of libraries and onto computer screens, ChatGPT has indisputably reshaped how people across the globe seek answers to their questions.

Since its debut in 2022, OpenAI’s generative artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT has popularized AI. Similar chatbots from different companies were born: Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s CoPilot. Anyone who’s anyone in Silicon Valley has either invested in, developed, or integrated AI in their work.

But it appears that ChatGPT won’t be dethroning “classic” internet search engines — namely their king, Google Search — anytime soon. While analysts worried that generative AI would be Google Search’s undoing, quite the opposite has been true. Rising ad revenue from Google Search helped boost Google’s profits nearly 60% in the first quarter. And Bank of America analysts on Monday said Google’s global search market share bumped up to 91.1% in June, just as ChatGPT web visits fell 12%.

Google Search is not necessarily an alternative to AI, though. In fact, Bank of America analysts Justin Post and Nitin Bansal said Google Search is growing its footprint because of AI. Google’s AI overviews — despite the hiccups in their initial rollout — “could be aiding query growth,” they said. The more Google integrates its AI, called Gemini, into its pre-existing products like Google Cloud and Google Search, the better those products will perform, Post and Bansal added.

“We remain positive on growing Gemini integration across Google ecosystem and think broader rollout of AI overviews will likely help drive higher usage, while AI integration can increase monetization across Google.”

But what’s good news for Google’s pockets is bad news for its compliance with antitrust laws. The Department of Justice just wrapped up its historic antitrust case against Google in May, accusing the company of monopolizing the digital search market. A ruling is expected in late 2024. Google faces another antitrust suit from the U.S. government filed in January of last year over allegations that the company engaged in anticompetitive activity in the digital advertising space. The fact that Google’s search market dominance is growing may not bode well with antitrust regulators.

In conclusion, while new technologies like ChatGPT are revolutionizing the way we interact with information online, traditional search engines like Google Search are not going anywhere. Instead, they are leveraging AI to improve their services and increase their market share. It will be interesting to see how the relationship between AI chatbots and search engines continues to evolve in the coming years.