What Happens When Google Doesn't Have...
Google Search, which turns 25 this year, has become an indispensable tool for people all over the world. Its ability to provide quick and easy answers has become so pervasive that it is difficult to imagine life without it. However, Google's grand promise of organizing the world's information has led to an enormous amount of information being organized for Google instead. This has resulted in an information ecosystem designed to cater to Google's search engine, with content designed to be easily parsed by it.
Google's dominance in search has also given rise to an ecosystem of search engine optimization (SEO) experts who await every new proclamation from Google with bated breath, interpreting them into rituals and practices. Google is the most significant source of traffic on the web, and the web has now become more like a structured database for search than anything created for actual people. However, despite its current dominance, Google Search faces a series of interlocking AI-related challenges that could threaten its existence.
The first of these challenges is the SEO monster, which has eaten the user experience of search from the inside out. The second is the rise of chat-based search tools like Microsoft's Bing and Google's Bard that could represent the future of search without any of the corresponding business models or revenue that Google has built up over the past 25 years. Additionally, the generative AI boom is built on an expansive interpretation of copyright law, which could result in Google facing a wave of AI lawsuits and regulations. Lastly, Google must develop a meaningful replacement to search without killing it in a year and starting over.
These challenges are real, and the extent to which Google Search might change as the company reacts to them is enormous. Any change to Google Search will alter our relationship to the internet in momentous ways. However, Google is a well-run company full of very smart people, and Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai is as thoughtful and sharp as any leader in tech. While these challenges present a significant threat, they also offer an opportunity for Google to innovate and adapt, ensuring that it remains a dominant force in the search industry for years to come.