Google Search is Not Going Anywhere Anytime Soon; It&#8217;s Here to Stay!
While OpenAI shied away from releasing a ‘Google Search Alternative’ at Spring Update, Google didn’t miss the opportunity to reinvent itself and change the search experience in ‘the era of Gemini’. Google chief Sundar Pichai seems to care less about the noise outside, as he recently said, ‘Google is dancing to its own music’, in response to Microsoft chief’s statement about making Google ‘dance’. “I’ve always been very clear. I think we have a clear sense of what we need to do,” he said. In order to tackle the likes of Perplexity AI and ChatGPT, the search giant introduced ‘AI Overviews’ at Google I/O 2024. This feature generates summaries for the queries provided by the user. Did Google Search just killed Perplexity?— Santiago (@svpino) May 14, 2024 “Sometimes you want a quick answer, but you don’t have time to piece together all the information you need. Search will do the work for you with AI Overviews,” said Liz Reid VP of Google Search. Powered by the Gemini model customised for Google Search, it combines Gemini’s advanced capabilities — including multi-step reasoning, planning, and multimodality — with best-in-class Search systems. “What really sets this apart is our three unique strengths. First, our real-time information includes over a trillion facts about people, places, and things. Second, our unparalleled ranking and quality systems have been trusted for decades to get you the very best of the web. And third, the power of Gemini, which unlocks new agentic capabilities, right in Search,” said Reid. Reimagining Google Search in the Era of Gemini Users can now ask Google multiple questions simultaneously. For instance, if someone is planning to join dance classes and needs to find the best option, they can ask Google multiple questions at once, such as ‘Suggest the best classes,’ ‘How far is it?’, and ‘Show details of intros and offers’. Google then compiles all the information with Gemini acting as an AI agent. “People have already used AI Overviews billions of times through our experiment in Search Labs. They like that they can get both a quick overview of a topic and links to learn more. We’ve found that with AI Overviews, people use Search more, and are more satisfied with their results,” said Reid. Moreover, Google will also be providing AI-organised Search pages based on the user query. For example, if you’re heading to Ooty to celebrate your anniversary and seeking the perfect restaurant, Gemini can generate a personalised page uncovering interesting options, such as venues with live music or historic charm, for you to explore. Google is further experimenting with the search experience on Android. Circle to Search enables users to select text, images, or videos on their screen through various gestures such as circling, highlighting, scribbling, or tapping to get relevant information. Now Search with Videos This is the first time that a search engine can search through videos online and suggest, recommend, and advise its user too. For instance, if you need to repair a washing machine, using video search, you can easily do so as it will walk you through troubleshooting and repair steps, potentially saving money on professional repairs. Moreover, video search saves you the time and effort of finding the right words to describe an issue. You’ll get an AI overview with steps and resources to troubleshoot. Video search will soon be available for Search Labs users in English in the US, with plans to expand to more regions over time. Bad Times Begin for Perplexity It is worth noting that Google isn’t planning to move away from the blue links anytime soon, as they are a major source of revenue for the company. In the latest quarter, Google earned $46.156 billion from Search and related revenues, a 14% increase. While Google does have a conversational chatbot, Gemini, like Perplexity AI, it does not provide links. If it were to start providing links, it would potentially impact Google’s advertising business. “Google needs to make Search fully conversational vs this middle ground between Search and LLM. (I realize billions of dollars are at stake),” wrote Peter Yang, principle product manager, Roblox on X. Google could disrupt Perplexity AI if it wanted to, but it faces the dilemma of whether sacrificing billions of dollars is worth it (obviously not). Interestingly, Perplexity AI might also be a wrapper for Google Search. Perplexity recently raised $63 million at a $1 billion valuation, led by Daniel Gross and others, including Jeff Bezos and NVIDIA. Like any other startup, the pressure might be mounting on it to generate returns. Most recently, it partnered with SoundHound AI to bring voice assistant services to cars, TVs, and other IoT devices. To sustain and compete with Google in the search engine space, one needs to offer more than just a good product. Sridhar Ramaswamy, Snowflake’s chief, who attempted to build a Google alternative called Neeva, said that his company was not on the path to a sustainable valuation, despite having a better product than Google’s. Now that Google is integrating Gemini Advance into its search engine it’s only going to get better. “You can get an answer instantly, complete with a range of perspectives and links to dive deeper,” said Reid, sharing the glimpse of AI Overview, which is currently available in the US, and soon to billions of customers globally. Only OpenAI, rumored to be releasing a search engine, has the potential to disrupt Google Search.
This is the first time that a search engine can search through videos online and suggest, recommend, and advise its user too.
In order to tackle the likes of Perplexity AI and ChatGPT, the search giant introduced ‘AI Overviews’ at Google I/O 2024. This feature generates summaries for the queries provided by the user.
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Siddharth is a media graduate who loves to explore tech through journalism and putting forward ideas worth pondering about in the era of artificial intelligence.