OpenAI, an artificial intelligence company owned by Microsoft, has revolutionized the search engine market with its AI-powered versions of Bing. Data up until March 20th shows an increase of 15.8 percent in page visits for the search engine, compared to the slight decrease of nearly one percent in visits for rival, Google. This remarkable surge in Bing’s popularity has been attributed to the incorporation of AI technology such as ChatGPT, allowing for smarter, more hands-off interaction with search results.
Due to its seemingly insurmountable market share, it has been difficult for other companies to compete with Google’s search capabilities. Despite this, Microsoft has become one of the few to gain traction against the tech giant and many experts believe its success has now opened up a rare opportunity for other companies to challenge the search engine colossus. Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co, believes that capturing even one or two percent of the huge search engine market could have an immense impact on Microsoft’s competitive standing.
The signs are all there to suggest that, with Microsoft leading the charge, the search engine landscape may be in the midst of a huge shift. Pinterest is the only other company to have made inroads against Google; however, the transformation has been at a much slower rate. On Tuesday, Google commenced the public launch of its own chatbot, Bard, in an attempt to keep up with the AI-powered competition.
Apart from the increasing number of queries directed towards Microsoft’s search engine, download statistics have also increased significantly. App downloads for Bing rose eight-fold following the integration of AI technology into its products, while downloads for the Google search app fell by two percent.
There are expectations that the successes achieved by Microsoft will be replicated by other companies in the industry, however, analysts remain hesitant and suggest that the long-term success of Google is still possible and probable. Yongjei Jeong, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities in South Korea, believes that Google’s ranking algorithm will remain its huge competitive edge, enabling it to ascend the search engine rankings and maintain its stronghold on the sector.
OpenAI’s AI-fueled version of Bing has certainly created a huge challenge for proponents of the traditional top dog in search engine technology, Google. Although the future of the search engine market remains to be seen, it is certain that Microsoft and OpenAI’s innovation in AI has laid the foundation for a stunning revolution in the industry.
Microsoft is a multinational technology company that develops, manufactures and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers and services. The company has had a promising year with its share price crossing the $200 mark in February, becoming the most valuable company in the world.
Gil Luria is an analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co. He has made several insightful remarks on the search engine market in his well received articles. His comments have accurately predicted the effects of OpenAI’s technology on the industry landscape. He has become a trusted source by many big players in the tech sector looking for insights on the future of search engine technology.
