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Time of India
26-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Elon Musk predicts the end of Google search; is the tech giant's reign slipping?
For nearly two decades, 'Google it' was the reflexive response to any question. But in March 2025, Google 's global search market share dipped below 90% for the first time since 2015, settling at 89.71 percent, according to Statcounter data. This marks a significant shift in the digital landscape , signaling potential cracks in Google's long-standing dominance. The decline is most evident in the United States, where Google's market share fell to 87.39 percent in December 2024. While traditional competitors like Bing and Yahoo have made modest gains, the real disruptors are AI-powered platforms such as ChatGPT , Perplexity, and now, Grok. These tools offer users direct, conversational answers, reducing the need to sift through multiple links, a feature particularly appealing to younger, tech-savvy demographics. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Duong Doan Thi Diem: Unsold Furniture Liquidation 2024 (Prices May Surprise You) Unsold Furniture | Search Ads Learn More Undo Elon Musk's prediction These platforms are gaining popularity among users tired of 'scrolling through SEO sludge and ads pretending to be answers,' as entrepreneur Mario Nawfal put it in a recent viral post on X. Live Events Quoting that post, Elon Musk made a bold prediction as he wrote on X, 'AI will obviate search @grok.' The statement encapsulates Musk's belief that artificial intelligence will not just compete with search engines, it will replace them. He predicts the end of traditional search engines, emphasizing the efficiency of AI-driven tools. 'Why dig through link farms when you can just Grok it and get straight to the point?' he remarked, highlighting the appeal of instant, AI-generated responses over traditional search results. Google's push to innovation In response to these challenges, Google has introduced 'AI Mode,' a conversational feature powered by its Gemini model. This mode aims to provide users with direct answers, mimicking the functionality of its AI competitors. However, critics argue that Google's integration of AI has been cautious and fragmented, potentially hindering its ability to compete effectively in this new landscape. Shift towards Artificial Intelligence The shift towards AI-driven search has broader implications beyond Google's market share. Publishers and content creators, who rely heavily on web traffic from search engines, are expressing concerns. With AI tools providing direct answers, users are less likely to click through to external websites, threatening the ad-based revenue models that many online businesses depend on. Despite these challenges, Google remains a formidable force, boasting 136 billion monthly visits compared to ChatGPT's 4 billion. However, the consistent decline in market share suggests a need for adaptation. As users increasingly seek immediate, AI-generated answers, the traditional search model may need to evolve to meet these changing expectations.
Forbes
22-05-2025
- Forbes
Microsoft Warns Windows Users—Change Browser To Stop Attacks
Here we go again — users pushed to the Edge Microsoft's long-running campaign to switch Chrome users to Edge has taken many twists and turns. It has prompted scathing responses from Google execs, suggesting the Windows-maker is tricking users, and complaints from users frustrated by ads and warnings within Windows itself. But it has not worked. In April 2023, Chrome enjoyed a 66% share of the global desktop market. Two years later, and that share is still 65%. It hasn't moved. Edge has grown its own share slightly, from 11% to 13%, but Statcounter's data continues to reflect the stickiness of the browser market and the reluctance of users to change. Microsoft has a new promotion this week for 'Microsoft Edge browser — the fast, smart alternative to Chrome,' which focuses on speed and performance but mainly AI. 'While most browsers share a familiar interface, Microsoft Edge distinguishes itself with deep AI integration, offering several key advantages,' the company says, just as Google confirms the latest Gemini upgrades coming to Chrome. But there's a more interesting push to the Edge from Microsoft this week — security and keeping PCs safe from a plague of ongoing attacks. We have seen this before — Edge promoted as a safer, more secure alternative to Chrome. And that same message often appears on banners and ads as Windows users download and install Chrome. But when it comes in an actual security advisory, it has a different tone. Chrome Vs Edge — the flatlines Kudos to Microsoft and multiple law enforcement agencies this week for ripping down swathes of Lumma infrastructure. The company's Digital Crimes Unit (DCU), the FBI and others 'are disrupting the leading tool used to indiscriminately steal sensitive personal and organizational information to facilitate cybercrime.' This includes seizing more than 2000 domains to sever the infostealer's ecosystem. Lumma Stealer 'is the favored info-stealing malware used by hundreds of cyber threat actors, stealing passwords, credit cards, bank accounts, and cryptocurrency wallets and has enabled criminals to hold schools for ransom, empty bank accounts, and disrupt critical services.' It's the threat often lurking behind ClickFix, fake Chrome update and phishing campaigns that trigger weekly warnings to users. In tandem with the Lumma takedown news, Microsoft has fresh recommendations to stay safe from these threats. Enable network and web defenses, always use multi-factor authentication (MFA), and switch to 'Microsoft Edge with Microsoft Defender.' Seeing a push to change browser in Microsoft's official recommendations within an attack advisory always makes me uneasy. It seems like a misplaced ad, given all the other pushes for Chrome users to change. But as I've commented before, it's probably the most effective way to grow Edge's market share. Appeal to enterprise security teams to switch users at work, in the hope they may then do the same at home. Whatever browser you use, do make sure safe browsing or its equivalent is enabled, that MFA is added to all your key accounts at a minimum — but always use Passkeys if you can, and avoid the temptation to click links and install any apps or updates from outside official stores. It's fine to stick with Chrome, as long as these basics are in place.
Mint
21-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Google still needs to convince investors it has got the hang of AI
No company can match Google's ability to get artificial intelligence in front of the masses. That's not always enough. The internet titan spent two hours at the opening of its annual developers conference on Tuesday showcasing its latest AI developments. These include 3-D video calls, real-time language translation and digital assistants that use AI to prepare users for tests or projects. Google is also bringing an 'AI mode" to its ubiquitous search engine for U.S. users, which can produce deeper answers to queries, well beyond a sea of links. Google powers about 90% of the world's searches now, and its Android operating system runs nearly three-quarters of smartphones in use globally, according to data from Statcounter. That, along with other widely used tools, such as Gmail and the Chrome internet browser, create a massive platform for Google to distribute new features and services. But those add-on services don't always take hold. And Google's breadth still hasn't stopped at least some search users from gravitating toward AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Meanwhile, the federal government is pressing two antitrust cases seeking to break the company up, threatening some of its vital distribution channels. The twin threats of AI displacement and a forced breakup amount to a new existential risk for the company. The stock of Google's parent, Alphabet, fell Tuesday after its I/O conference keynote and is now down 13% this year. It is the only megacap tech company to have lost market value over the past 12 months. News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, has a commercial agreement to supply content on Google platforms. Alphabet is now the cheapest big tech by a significant margin, trading at around 17 times forward earnings, compared with an average of 29 times for its peers. Valuation alone won't win over investors if they remain convinced that government penalties and competition mean Google's best days are behind it. 'Until the regulatory dust settles and Alphabet's future search share, particularly in commercial queries, becomes more certain, Alphabet investors remain in this uneasy state," wrote Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson in a recent report. It helps that Google has been here before. The stock was previously at this valuation level in early 2023, after the public launch of ChatGPT and the partnership between OpenAI and Microsoft created the impression that Google was now playing catch-up in AI. Google responded by aggressively launching its own AI features while keeping its core business humming. The company's annual advertising revenue has risen 20% to about $270 billion since ChatGPT's launch, a sign that it remains strong in searches with commercial intent. Google's corporate cloud business—another distribution point for AI services—has grown by 45% during that time. And Google might not actually be running that far behind its new generative-AI competitors. A survey by Morgan Stanley of Americans 16 and up found that 40% of respondents reported in March that they used Google's Gemini at least once a month, which was only 1 percentage point lower than the number saying they used ChatGPT that much. The same survey, though, found that ChatGPT had a strong edge with the younger crowd, as 68% of 16- to 24-year-olds reported using the chatbot, compared with 46% for Gemini. That is valuable mindshare that Google still needs to win over. The company that has long maintained search dominance knows all too well how internet habits can be hard to break. Write to Dan Gallagher at
Business Insider
08-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Apple's comments on Search gave investors one reason to worry about Google's future. Here's another.
Apple senior vice president of services Eddy Cue set alarm bells ringing on Wednesday after dropping a bombshell at Google's antitrust trial: Google searches through Safari dropped in April for the first time ever. While his comments triggered a frenzied sell-off in Google stock, it might not be the only reason the company's watchers should be concerned about Google's ability to keep full control over the search market. A little-noticed number in Google's latest financial disclosure may be the realest sign yet that investors have reason to worry. After reporting blockbuster Q1 earnings last month, Google revealed in a 10-Q filing with the SEC that paid clicks for the quarter grew 2%, down from 5% growth in the same quarter a year ago. That's the slowest growth rate since the company began reporting the metric. Paid clicks are exactly what they sound like: people click on ads across Google Search and other services such as Google Play and Gmail. Each click translates to money in Google's pocket. Why those paid clicks are down, exactly, Google hasn't said. "It's possible macro played a role, or searches with AI overviews delivered better results, requiring fewer 'paid clicks' to get to conversion," Bernstein analysts wrote in a note published Wednesday. "But mostly, it's a worrying KPI." The analysts said they believe the timing of the dip, combined with Cue's comments and surging numbers of ChatGPT and Meta AI users, suggests that Google's control of the search market may be lower than previously believed. "Combined, we estimate Google's search share is closer to 65-70% vs. the 90% we often hear," they wrote. Google declined to comment. Google's slice of pie Google insists that it's seeing more searches than ever. Since the 2000s, the company has managed to harvest vast amounts of searches by paying Apple a fee to make its search engine the default on Apple's Safari web browser. As recently as 2022, Google had paid Apple at least $20 billion — a massive fee that signals how much value Google sees in having Apple users turn to its search engine for all their queries. It maintains that this partnership continues to drive growth in searches. Cue's comments were provocative enough to prompt the search giant to issue a public statement stating that it continues to see "overall query growth" in Search, including an increase in total queries coming from Apple. There's little doubt among industry watchers that the overall search pie is growing — though figures from research firm Statcounter suggest Google's control of the global search has fallen slightly. The big question is whether Google's slice of that pie is shrinking relative to rivals. According to Statcounter, Google's share of global search traffic fell to 89.71% in March 2025, down from about 91% in March 2024 and about 93% in March 2023. Meanwhile, competing search products are growing. In April, OpenAI said that around 10% of the world uses ChatGPT, which would be at least 800 million users. Meta also said that about 1 billion people use AI across its various products. The search market expands with AI as chatbots and generative tools expand the definition of search. Google could reap the rewards here, though this also creates an opening for competitors charging as fast as possible to stay ahead of the search giant. Bernstein analysts estimated that generative AI queries that run through chatbots such as ChatGPT are reaching volumes close to 15% of the queries processed by Google and other traditional search engines. Analysts are split Other analysts are divided on just how much of a threat Google's search business faces. For instance, longtime Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo took to X on Wednesday to explain why he felt it was a mistake to think generative AI would not affect Google's advertising business. He said that despite the "continued growth of Google's advertising business," the company hasn't had much competition yet. "GenAI service providers have not launched advertising businesses, so Google Ads remains the best choice for online advertisers," Kuo wrote. The following statement by Apple's senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue, implies that Google search and advertising business are facing potential threats from generative AI (GenAI): Cue noted that searches on Safari dipped for the first time last month, which he attributed… — 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 7, 2025 Kuo likened Google's situation to the one Yahoo faced during the 2000s. The company's advertising business, launched in 1995, only started declining in 2008, despite newfound competition from Google's AdWords business arriving back in 2000. Analysts at investment bank Jefferies have a different view. In a research note on Wednesday, the analysts had a particular word to describe the roughly $155 billion sell-off in Google's stock following Cue's comments: "overblown." While they acknowledged that Google's AI-powered "Overviews" feature may act as a headwind right now as it is resulting in "fewer searches," they said Google will "be able to ramp monetization" of its AI summary feature over the long run. They also don't see a scenario where Apple shifts away from Google and causes as much harm as investors might think. "While Safari is significant, it does not represent the entirety of search activity; iOS accounts for 18% of operating systems, and Safari holds 17% of the browser market share compared to Chrome's 66%," the analysts wrote.
Forbes
28-04-2025
- Forbes
Will Microsoft Really Kill Off Windows 10 In October?
Windows 10 is still the world's most used desktop operating system There's now less than six months until Microsoft plans to kill support for Windows 10. There's just one major problem: it's still the world's most used desktop operating system. Microsoft plans to end free support for Windows 10 on October 14, potentially leaving hundreds of millions, if not billions, of PCs without protection from security threats. Businesses and (for the first time) consumers will be offered the chance to extend support further for a fee, but how many people will be willing to pay upwards of $30 for operating system updates awaits to be seen. Only Microsoft knows the true number of Windows 10 machines still ticking in the world, but it's not a number the company reports publicly. However, third-party analysis says that it's still more widely used than Windows 11, which was launched in October 2021. StatCounter – which collates the operating systems used by computers visiting more than 1.5 million websites – reported that Windows 10 was still used on 54.2% of all Windows PCs in March 2025. Windows 11, while starting to climb more rapidly in recent months, remains in second place on 42.7% of all Windows machines. Windows 11 has overtaken its older sibling in many Western countries, including the U.S.A., the U.K. and Canada. But in parts of Asia and Africa, there's still an enormous gulf between Windows 10 and Windows 11. In India, for example, Windows 10 holds strong on 62.1% of all Windows PCs, with Windows 11 only found on 36.2%. In Nigeria, 64.9% of Windows users remain on Windows 10, and it has even increased its market share slightly in March. Windows 11 usage is below 30% in the country, while just under 5% are still using Windows 7, support for which ended five years ago. Microsoft has never been in a situation like this before. When Windows 7 left mainstream support in January 2015, it was by far and away the most used operating system, with just over 60% of Windows PCs using the operating system, according to Statcounter. But by the time extended support expired in 2020, it was only on a fifth of all Windows machines. At the current trajectory, Windows 10 will likely still be on around half of all Windows machines when its extended support deadline expires in October. Why has Windows 10 proved so enduringly popular? Partly because Microsoft raised the hardware bar quite significantly for Windows 11, with many Windows 10 PCs unable to upgrade to the latest operating system. Uncertainty over Microsoft's plans for Windows 12 may also be leaving some consumers and businesses unsure over whether to upgrade to a Windows 11 PC or wait for a new operating system. Microsoft shocked the entire industry when it abruptly announced Windows 11 in June 2021 and released it that autumn, having previously indicated it wasn't going to release major new versions of the operating system but continue updating Windows 10 instead. Now nobody's quite sure if a Windows 12 will be announced later this year, giving users another option before the curtain comes down on Windows 10. Even if Microsoft does stick with its plans to end support in October, Windows 10 users will have the safety net of Extended Support Updates. For consumers, this means a one-off fee of $30 for a further year's worth of updates. For businesses, Extended Support Updates will be available for another three years, with a punishing sliding scale of fees that start at $61 for the first year, but double the following year, and then double again in year three. Third-party security firms will also continue to support Windows 10 beyond the deadline. However, security software can't plug holes in the operating system itself. All it can do is to continue to ward off viruses and other malware as best it can. The pinch point will come if a major exploit is discovered in Windows 10 after the support deadline expires. Will Microsoft tough it out, and only offer patches to customers paying for Extended Support Updates? Or will it issue a free, general update to prevent a widespread security problem? It will be a test of nerve for both Windows 10 users and Microsoft alike.
