Much to the surprise of the market, tech community and even Google staff, reports surfaced that Samsung might be swapping out Google as its default browser on their devices. According to a New York Times article, the South Korean electronics company had been considering Microsoft’s Bing as its default browser instead of Google.
Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. has taken a 4% hit to its market value after the news release, amounting to a $55 billion loss. The report throws light on the competition that Google’s search engine business is facing from Bing, a relatively minor company which has been receiving more attention lately due to the added advantage of artificial intelligence technology like ChatGPT.
Google is a billion-dollar company, with search engine services accounting for a staggering 162 billion dollars in revenue each year.
Google, the reigning king of search engines with over 90% of the market share, has integrated large language models to improve the quality of its search results. Despite the potential of AI generating false and biased statements, Google has thus far resisted the urge to fully integrate it within its search engines.
There is a lot at stake for Google as they have a $20 billion contract to renew with Apple this year. If they want to keep holding their position in the search market and receive their important income, then they’ll have to be successful.
A downturn in market share or the loss of a major contract could be quite detrimental to Google’s financial standing and its place as a leader in technology. To retain its high ranking as the top search engine of choice for users on all devices and platforms, the company is likely to invest heavily in its development.
Google is looking to stay ahead of its competitors while maintaining its strong presence in the search engine market. To do this, it is now focusing on incorporating advanced AI technology into its infrastructure. This will give users a tailored and more personalised experience.
Unfortunately, Google’s very own AI chatbot has been preliminarily deemed a disappointment when compared to ChatGPT. According to Reuters, Alphabet took a huge hit in market value when one of its AI chatbots promoted false facts in an advertisement video. The loss amounted to around $100 billion.
