With the recent launch of SearchGPT, OpenAI has positioned itself to compete with Google in the search engine market. The new tool, still in testing, responds to queries with “up-to-date information from the web” and provides links to sources.
This concept is similar to Google’s AI Overviews or Perplexity’s AI-powered answer engine. But to what extent can a relatively new startup impact a tech giant like Google?
Google has dominated the search engine space for over 20 years and has more capital and employees than OpenAI, which has only become a household name in the past two years.
A Business Insider report quoted Chris Rogers, CEO of search engine optimization agency CSP, who has worked in the search engine industry for over 20 years, saying:
- SearchGPT may not pose a direct threat to Google.
- However, the giant should feel threatened due to the momentum OpenAI previously created around ChatGPT.
- Google should feel threatened because OpenAI presented a better strategy than Google in launching SearchGPT.
- OpenAI is first launching SearchGPT to a small group of publishers and users for feedback, with plans to eventually integrate it into ChatGPT – Rogers said this is the right idea.
He added: Google showed “amazing things” at its conference this year. The company introduced tools like AI Overviews, Project Astra, and a range of AI features for Android. However, he emphasized that “there’s a gap between what they’ve just rolled out and what the public is experiencing with these AI Overviews.” AI Overviews received criticism for providing inaccurate responses and making mistakes such as suggesting consuming glue.
Google also previously received backlash because the Gemini chatbot recreated images of historical figures with inaccurate races and genders. The chatbot is now restricted from responding to any election-related queries.
Rogers said OpenAI learned a lesson from Google’s approach by launching to a subset of users for feedback first, giving the company a chance to work on emerging issues.
According to the company’s announcement, SearchGPT will cite and link “clear attribution and embedded, named links” to help users identify the source of information.
While Rogers fears that OpenAI might adopt a backdoor approach to accessing data if publishers refuse to enter into an agreement, he says the way the deals were presented to the public is the right idea.
Google’s Dominance
Rogers said Google rarely faces challenges, allowing it to drift away without innovation. However, the emergence of strong competitors like OpenAI could be a catalyst for much-needed change, he said, emphasizing that:
- Google needs to adapt.
- They will need to question how they do things.
- Google has room to make changes and time to do so.
- Consumer search behavior and technology adoption move relatively slowly.
He added: The antitrust ruling issued on Monday against Google could help OpenAI in the future. The tech giant could lose search market share if removed as the default search engine on mobile devices, but Rogers said it’s expected to be a lengthy process.
A U.S. federal judge ruled that Google violates antitrust law by spending billions of dollars to practice illegal monopoly and become the world’s default search engine.
The ruling represents the first victory for U.S. antitrust authorities who have filed several lawsuits challenging big tech companies’ market dominance.
The ruling paves the way for a second trial to set potential solutions to fix the situation, which could include dismantling Alphabet, Google’s parent company, potentially changing the landscape of the online advertising world Google has dominated for years.
However, Rogers continued: “As long as it’s the preferred search engine for most consumers, it will remain the dominant search engine. Even if OpenAI or other AI-powered search engines erode search market share.”
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For his part, Assem Galal, Management Sciences and Information Technology Consultant at G&K, said in exclusive statements to “Sky News Arabia Economy”:
- Google primarily relies on revenue generated from search-related ads to generate its income.
- The most famous search engine has maintained almost complete control over this industry for many years.
- With serious competition declining after companies like Microsoft and Yahoo withdrew from this field, OpenAI’s new search engine, known as SearchGPT, now appears as a potential threat to Google.
Galal pointed out that although this engine is not the first of its kind, as other search engines preceded it, GPT’s broad user base, which exceeds 100 million users
