Here’s how Microsoft and Apple prepare to challenge Google on online search
The throne of Big G shakes in the online research sector. On the one hand, Microsoft challenges Google by integrating ChatGPT with the Bing search engine, on the other, the Cupertino giant is engaging in a "silent war" with Apple Search. Facts and insights
So far, Google's search engine has had no real competitors and the Mountain View giant is dominating the over $200 billion market.
But things could soon change. Google's rival tech giants are preparing the online search challenge: on the one hand Microsoft with its 10 billion dollar investment in ChatGPT , the chatbot developed by the artificial intelligence company OpenAI which has become a viral phenomenon and on the other Apple with the project Apple Search.
As Forbes points out, Google has taken over the search engine arena to the point where the brand name is synonymous with searching for something online. And while Microsoft has its own search engine, Bing has never been as popular as Google. Until this moment. Because the Redmond giant could improve its search engine using the technology behind ChatGPT, Bing could provide more human answers to questions rather than just links to information.
In addition, the iPhone maker has been rumored for years to be quietly working on an Apple search service to compete with Google. That idea has made a comeback in a report suggesting it could be one element of a three-part “silent war” on Google, picked up by 9to5mac .
All the details.
MICROSOFT AND APPLE CHALLENGE GOOGLE'S DOMINATION IN ONLINE SEARCH
“As of December 2022, the situation of the global desktop search engine market is as follows: Google Search dominates with over 84%, followed by Microsoft Bing at 8.9%. The gap is further exacerbated when looking at mobile: 96% for Google, only 0.5% for Bing” summarizes Il Sole 24 Ore .
But an immediate threat to Big G's dominance could come from OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot integrated into Bing. In fact, numerous reports suggest that Microsoft, by investing in OpenAI, will use ChatGpt so that Bing can answer questions with answers rather than links to websites. Even if Google does not intend to be caught unprepared and the investment in artificial intelligence by the Mountain View giant could neutralize this threat.
REDMOND COLOSSUS WILL PUSH BING WITH CHATGPT
In early January, The Information revealed that Microsoft hopes to roll out a Bing feature that would integrate ChatGPT technology into its search engines to provide better user results with the new feature by the end of March in an effort to make Bing more competitive with Google.
If Microsoft can finally gain some traction in the search engine space, it would give Google some much-needed competition and could change the way the average person navigates the web.
APPLE SEARCH SOON?
And on another front there is the internal project of the Cupertino giant Apple Search.
Google has long paid Apple billions of dollars a year to be the default search engine in Safari. This drives traffic to Google, which makes a profit by selling ads in search results. However, Apple uses other search engines such as Microsoft's Bing in the background for Siri searches. It has also been rumored for some time that searches for Siri and Spotlight are partly managed by a search engine developed by Apple itself. That notion is bolstered by the company's occasional acquisitions of research firms like Topsy Labs and Laserlike, 9to5mac recalls.
And for years the iPhone maker has apparently been working on an Apple search service to compete with Google. Meanwhile, earlier this month the Cupertino giant launched Apple Business Connect: a new tool for businesses of all sizes to help "claim their location pins and customize how key information appears at more than one billion Apple users”. According to the Financial Times, Business Connect could be one element of a three-part move to compete with Google: Apple Maps (including Business Connect), an Apple advertising network and Apple Search.
EXPERT COMMENT
While this is a long-standing rumor, the big question had always been whether Apple wanted to get into what is currently a rather obscure business. Google's business model is largely driven by the ability to serve personalized ads, which reflect our web browsing and search history. This is something Apple considers too intrusive and has tried to block initiatives like App Tracking Transparency.
However, Josh Koenig, chief strategy officer of Pantheon, a platform for website operations, told 9to5mac that Apple could quickly take a bite out of Google's 92% share in the search market by not making Google the default for 1.2 billion iPhone users. “If Apple could make something that was essentially as good as 'classic Google' — Google around 2010 when it was just a search engine that was less optimized for ad revenue — people might just prefer it,” Koenig said.
So from Microsoft to Apple the challenge to Google's dominance in online search is officially open.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia-on-demand/ecco-come-microsoft-e-apple-preparano-la-sfida-a-google-sulla-ricerca-online/ on Tue, 31 Jan 2023 11:08:59 +0000.