Google Search, Samsung’s Bing Pivot, and Microsoft Word to Microsoft Phrase

In the past, I’d noted that Google was largely wasting money paying Apple to have its search engine as the default search in Apple products. My thesis was based on the construct that Google Search being the #1, Apple even without being paid would have used it. It was not really about Apple; it was about Apple delivering the best experience to its customers. An iPhone on Bing would not have given Apple that end-to-end great experience Apple had envisioned.

So, the estimated $20 billion Google sent to Apple in 2022 for its search position was not money well spent. Sure, you could argue that the money possibly included an incentive for Apple to stay away from developing an inhouse search engine. In other words, if you receive a cheque of $20 billion yearly, why would you bother building that product line? Apple pockets about $20 billion yearly, and punts for Google to own the world of search!

Google was the absolute search’s category-king, and remains the best as I write. But that is changing. How do you know? Buy a Windows laptop, get the system connected to the internet, you will likely do one of these two things within the first five things on Internet Explorer/ Edge: type Google.com or search “download Chrome” on the browser. In other words, most begin from the Microsoft browser to get Chrome, and quickly change the default browser to Chrome, with Google search the obvious choice over Bing.

But that is changing and Samsung dropped some hints: “Alphabet Inc shares fell as much as 4% on Monday following a report South Korea’s Samsung Electronics was considering replacing Google with Microsoft-owned Bing as the default search engine on its devices. The report, published by the New York Times over the weekend, underscores the growing challenges Google’s $162-billion-a-year search engine business face from Bing – a minor player that has risen in prominence recently after the integration of the artificial intelligence tech behind ChatGPT.”

Google now provides summaries for searches, to mimic one of the coolest elements of ChatGPT, cooking the food, instead of just providing the grocery of Internet links, and requiring one to enter the kitchen to prepare the meal. But just like making short videos does not take TikTok out with its best-in-class AI system for video discovery and distribution, the only future for Google is the lab: it must create good AI to withstand the frontal assault which ChatGPT is bringing to its business.

Indeed, ChatGPT provides a real challenge to Google Search. On Friday, I noticed something with my Microsoft Word (within Microsoft 365). I was working on a document on economic development. As I typed, Word was not just suggesting words but phrases and clauses. It was systematically predicting me as I wrote. Then on Sunday, working on a courseware on Professional Personal Branding for Tekedia Mini-MBA, I noticed that Word could extend my thoughts. Quickly, I shouted, “Microsoft Word has evolved to Microsoft Phrase and if it continues like this, we will have Microsoft Sentence and Microsoft Paragraph soon”!

Google’s reaction to the threat was “panic” as the company earns an estimated $3 billion in annual revenue from the Samsung contract, the report said, citing internal messages.
Another $20 billion is tied to a similar Apple (AAPL.O) contract that will be up for renewal this year, the report added.

In a response to Reuters, Google said it was working to bring new AI-powered features to Search without commenting on its association with Samsung. The South Korean consumer electronics major did not respond to a request for comment.

Google has for decades dominated the search market with a share of over 80%, but Wall Street fears the company could be falling behind Microsoft in a fast-moving AI race.

Parent firm Alphabet lost $100 billion in value on Feb. 8 after its new chatbot, Bard, shared inaccurate information in a promotional video and a company event failed to dazzle.

On Monday, the stock fell to $104.90 and erased nearly $50 billion from Alphabet’s market capitalization. Microsoft, meanwhile, outperformed the broader market with a rise of 1%.

The post Google Search, Samsung’s Bing Pivot, and Microsoft Word to Microsoft Phrase was originlly published by Ndubisi Ekekwe on TAKEDIA.