Google is experiencing challenges to its search engine dominance as DuckDuckGo reported install rates jumping up to 40% weekly, Microsoft's Bing reached 1 billion users last quarter, and Google's search traffic declined over 1% in the past month while ChatGPT traffic increased. The search giant faced executive departures last week when Noam Shazeer, vice president of engineering and co-lead of Gemini AI, left for OpenAI, and on Friday when John Jumper, DeepMind vice president and engineering fellow, departed for Anthropic, leading to Alphabet stock dropping 5% on Monday. Google still controls 90% of the search market and its stock price has more than doubled in the past year, but the company faces pressure from AI-powered chatbots and a growing user base seeking non-AI search alternatives.
Google Executives Depart for OpenAI and Anthropic
Noam Shazeer, a vice president of engineering and co-lead of Gemini AI, announced last week he was leaving Google to join OpenAI. On Friday, John Jumper, DeepMind vice president and engineering fellow, said he was leaving for Anthropic. Alphabet's stock on Monday had its worst day in more than a year, dropping 5%. Analysts at Jefferies wrote in a report that they "don't read the recent departures as a signal that Google is doing less with AI, but rather as another data point in an industry-wide war for talent in which frontier labs are aggressively bidding."
DuckDuckGo Install Rates Jump Up to 75% Following Google Changes
DuckDuckGo reported install rates have been up as much as 75% from before Google's I/O announcement in May. Earlier this month, DuckDuckGo launched new browser extensions that allow users to default to noai.duckduckgo.com, creating a "no-AI" search engine. Over the past month, Google's search engine traffic is down more than 1%, while ChatGPT traffic is up. DuckDuckGo policy chief Kamyl Bazbaz stated that Google turns on AI Overview automatically, meaning users are not "given a choice." Microsoft launched a Bing browser extension called "Bing AI Search Choice," giving users the option to turn off AI chat-like features. Jordi Ribas, president of search and AI at Microsoft, wrote in a LinkedIn post that "AI is doing powerful things for search, but research tells us that not everyone wants to use AI for everything all the time."
Pew Research Finds Half of Americans Concerned About AI
A Pew Research Center study published in March found that about half of Americans felt that AI in their daily lives made them "more concerned than excited." ChatGPT consistently ranks as the top free app on Apple iOS, and Anthropic's Claude is currently eighth, one spot behind Google Gemini. ChatGPT recently surpassed 1 billion monthly active users. Lily Ray, vice president of search engine optimization and AI search at marketing firm Amsive, said "a lot of people use Google because Google is like the front page of the internet, but they want to go on these journeys and do the clicking and searching themselves and make their own decisions."
Google Redesigns Search Box at Annual Developer Conference
At its annual developer conference last month, Google said it would be redesigning the search box for the first time in 25 years, placing the "AI Mode" button directly in the box. The search button is now below the box. Elizabeth Reid, who oversees Google's search organization, said at the event: "This is the biggest upgrade to our iconic search box since its debut over 25 years ago." Google's image generation tool Nano Banana is also available in the search box by clicking on the plus button. In the Google Search mobile app, a large "AI Mode" click box is nearly the same size as the regular search box.
Publishers Report Search Traffic Declines as Google Searches End Without Clicks
Studies from data panels like SparkToro and Similarweb show that roughly 68% of all Google searches now end without a single click to an external website. Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch, in an interview last month with TBPN, said his team has predicted declines in search traffic for three years, and "every year it was down more than we forecast." Lynch stated: "Last year, I told our teams assume there's no search. You have to have your businesses plan as if search is zero." In an antitrust battle with the Justice Department, Google admitted last year in a court filing that the open web is "already in rapid decline."
Google Stock Rises Over 100% Despite Monday's 5% Drop
Even after Google's slide on Monday, the stock is still up over 100% in the past year, well outperforming all of its hyperscaler peers. Google's revenue growth in the first quarter was the fastest for any period since 2022. In the last earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai attributed increased user engagement to AI experiences like AI Mode and AI Overviews. Pichai said on the call: "AI continues to drive search usage and queries are at an all-time high." Ads still account for about three-quarters of the company's revenue. Elizabeth Reid, Google's search leader, said in a Bloomberg podcast in April that "there's this sort of myth that people want AI or the web. I actually think what we see is that people want AI on the web together."
FAQ
What executive changes occurred at Google last week?
Noam Shazeer, vice president of engineering and co-lead of Gemini AI, announced last week he was leaving Google to join OpenAI. On Friday, John Jumper, DeepMind vice president and engineering fellow, said he was leaving for Anthropic. Following these departures, Alphabet's stock dropped 5% on Monday.
How much have DuckDuckGo install rates increased?
DuckDuckGo reported install rates jumping up to 40% weekly, with rates up as much as 75% from before Google's I/O announcement in May. Earlier this month, DuckDuckGo launched new browser extensions allowing users to default to a "no-AI" search engine at noai.duckduckgo.com.
What percentage of Google searches end without clicking external websites?
Studies from data panels like SparkToro and Similarweb show that roughly 68% of all Google searches now end without a single click to an external website. Over the past month, Google's search engine traffic is down more than 1%.
