Generative AI will forever change Google’s dominance of search business

Google search on a mobile phone

You may have heard how Google recently declared a “code red” internally after the launch and explosive success of ChatGPT. Can you blame them? Google has dominated the search business for years, and has littered search results with ads that generate billions of dollars in revenues for the company. And they’ve used their dominant position to squeeze out complimentary services such as travel options, movie times, etc.

Generative AI and chatbots change the game

Google’s search business is feeling the heat from generative AI and chatbots. As technology advances, these tools are becoming increasingly more sophisticated – and they’re giving Google a run for its money! Generative AI can create content that sounds just like it was written by humans, while chatbots can provide helpful answers to everyday questions in an instant. These advancements mean that users have more options at their fingertips when conducting searches, making it harder for Google to remain on top.

Think about it – why do a Google search and have to sift through ranked websites for an answer when you can get the answer from a chatbot that is produced through generative AI?

In the short term, accuracy is an issue, but we all know this problem will be solved quickly. Already, we’ve seen a tremendous leap in capability with the release of GPT-4, which performs much better than the already impressive GPT-3.

Innovator’s Dilemma

Google faces the ultimate innovator’s dilemma. They’ve had this AI capability, but they’ve naturally kept it under wraps, knowing that its release would pose a threat to their current business model.

Now, with the release of ChatGPT, Google doesn’t have a choice. They will soon be releasing its own AI chatbot called Bard, which is now being used by testers. The company is also starting to ad more AI capability into tools such as Gmail and Google Docs.

Microsoft sees an opportunity for Bing

Microsoft’s search business has been a dud for years, but now the company sees real opportunity with generative AI and chatbots. They released a new version of Bing which allows users to toggle between conventional search results and results generated by a chatbot, which comes with references for further investigation by the user.

Give it a try and you’ll see in real time why Google is facing a real threat. The days of relying primarily on traditional Google-style web searches are over. Of course those types of searches ill still be popular. People want to find website and tools that are useful, entertaining or informative. But sometimes they just want an answer, and the new chatbots will eat into Google’s market share and inevitably threaten revenues.

These technologies enable users to ask questions in plain language and receive accurate answers with minimal effort. This threatens Google’s market dominance as users become accustomed to more conversational means of searching for information online. Additionally, traditional web search relies on keywords, while NLP-based systems can understand the context behind a query and provide results that better match a user’s intent. This decreases the need for users to manually refine their searches by providing more relevant results faster. As these technologies become increasingly sophisticated, they could potentially reduce demand for Google’s services and erode its position as one of the world’s leading search providers.

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Apps for home sellers to sell quickly

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If you’re looking for quick cash for your house, you now have several apps to choose from. The business plan for these apps are interesting:

Think of them as house-flippers that work for you. Sellers fill out an online questionnaire, and an iBuyer uses proprietary modeling to assess the home’s value. The company then makes an all-cash offer within 72 hours, sight unseen. (The iBuyer keeps a 6 to 10 percent commission off the price.) They make light renovations and relist the house at a markup. Home buyers can browse and make an offer via app.

It will be interesting to see how much participation these apps generate. There’s a lot of VC money behind these startups.

  

Airbnb in fierce battle with cities trying to regulate the service

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Airbnb has had an enormous impact on the travel and hospitality industries, offering unprecedented choice and convenience to travelers all around the world. Whether you need a bed for the night or a vacation rental for a month, the service provides a variety of options. Meanwhile, homeowners and anyone having a spare room can now monetize the asset very easily.

These conveniences, however, have disrupted markets in dense cities like New York while also creating incidents where users created damage and noise problems.

As a result, cities like New York are trying to crack down, and now Airbnb seems poised to fight back. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

  

Schools and teachers using crowdfunding

Here’s a great video on how schools and teachers are using crowdfunding to fund things like equipment and other projects that helps schools and students.

  

Twitter gets serious about video

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Twitter is introducing a new program that will enable users to monetize videos they post on Twitter. The program is quite attractive with a 70/30 revenue split in favor if the user, and the program is also non-exclusive. This will provide real incentives for celebrities and others with large Twitter followings to use Twitter for their videos along with YouTube and other platforms. Maybe the Twitter brass is finally figuring out how to monetize their users.

  

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