Googling Is for Old People. That’s a Problem for Google.

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Nov. 29, 2024 9:00 pm ET | Christopher Mims

[E. Pluribus Unum]

If Google were a ship, it would be the Titanic in the hours before it struck an iceberg—riding high, supposedly unsinkable, and about to encounter a force of nature that could make its name synonymous with catastrophe.

The trends moving against Google are so numerous and interrelated that the Justice Department’s attempt to dismantle the company—the specifics of which were unveiled Nov. 20—could be the least of its problems.

The company’s core business is under siege. People are increasingly getting answers from artificial intelligence. Younger generations are using other platforms to gather information. And the quality of the results delivered by its search engine is deteriorating as the web is flooded with AI-generated content. Taken together, these forces could lead to long-term decline in Google search traffic, and the outsize profits generated from it, which prop up its parent company Alphabet’s money-losing bets on things like its Waymo self-driving unit.

The first danger facing Google is clear and present: When people want to search for information or go shopping on the internet, they are shifting to Google’s competitors, and advertising dollars are following them. In 2025, eMarketer projects, Google’s share of the U.S. search-advertising market will fall below 50% for the first time since the company began tracking it.

In responding to government antitrust inquiries, Google itself makes this point often: “Evidence at trial shows we face fierce competition from a broad range of competitors.” 

[E. Pluribus Unum]

[suasponte137]

I hate Google politics, but as far as I can tell their search engine is still superior to anything else that’s out there

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Google buries anything non-woke.

[ComputerGuy]

Search engines are AI .

[SharpRightTurn]

It couldn’t happen to a more deserving commie, leftwing, Woke, racist corporation.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Search engines are highly detailed databases.

[NorthMountain]

From one of the links:

Over the past week, I’ve been playing with a new, free, AI-powered search engine-slash-web browser on the iPhone, called Arc Search. When I type in a search query, it first identifies the best half-dozen websites with information on that topic, then uses AI to “read” and summarize them.

"The best half-dozen websites"????

The big Sez WHO???? The best? Really? According to the commies, trannies, and fags who trained the "AI"??? What a load of bullcrap!

And then it "summarizes them" ... the consumer of such dreck doesn't know what she doesn't know ...

This is the opposite of learning. It's willingly filling one's mind with unfiltered sewage.

[NorthMountain]

I find “bing” searches more useful than “google”. YMMV.

[ClearCase_guy]

1) I figure Google is basically the CIA showing people what the CIA wants people to see.

2) I figure AI is basically the CIA showing people what the CIA wants people to see.

3) Stories telling me that people are switching from Google to AI seems like the CIA telling me something which is intended to make me feel better about how the CIA manipulates me.

[gibsonguy]

Must disagree. A search engine that has a built in leftward bias is not “superior to anything else that’s out there“.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Excellent observation.

[suasponte137]

I go to free Republic for anything political or cultural.

I go to Google to find out how much RAM a laptop needs to run Roblox for my kid.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

People are increasingly getting answers from artificial intelligence.

Which is run by who?

Oh right. Google.

I fail to see it is supposedly an improvement when people ask the Google Large Language Model (so called AI which is nothing of the sort) for "answers" rather then the Google search engine which may by mistake actually provide you with some useful information.

[suasponte137]

Like I already said

I go to free Republic for anything political or cultural.

I go to Google to find out how much RAM a laptop needs to run Roblox for my kid.

Tell me where I’ll find the leftist bias in the Google search I actually made two hours ago above, and maybe I’ll reconsider

[Pontiac]

This old man stopped using Google at least 15 years ago

If I have to go to 5 other search engines to find what I want, I have the time.

[Flash Bazbeaux]

Artificial Intelligence empowers authentic stupidity.

[tsomer]

I started using Yandex for political topics.
I couldn’t believe the results!
It works just like a real search engine!
Non-cnn ms-nbc results show up on the first page!

[Uncle Miltie]

Google is a spying engine. Any and all parts.

[suasponte137]

I actually use that sometime too. The have the best revers image search on the internet. Like say you have a piece of furniture that you like, but it’s too expensive. Take a picture of it. Do a reverse image search on Yandex and it may find something similar. That’s a lot cheaper.

But damn,they sure are Russian, Aren’t they?

I generally don’t think of myself As a tinfoil hat, type of guy, but I Won’t create a profile on yandex because of where it’s from

And yes, I know there’s a bunch of other ways they can already get information on me so what can you do?

[suasponte137]

I have nothing interesting for them to spy on.