In the late 1990s the internet felt like an uncharted city, chaotic and bursting with potential. There were plenty of search engines, but none of them was very efficient. 

So in 1998 two Stanford students launched a project, a plan to revolutionize how we search online. That idea became Google, and for the next two decades, it changed the internet. 

Google was like the front door to the web. Want to know the weather, Google it. looking for the best sushi spot. Google it. need an answer ASAP. Well, Google it. Google did not just define search. It owned it so much so that googling is now a verb. 

But like all empires, Google, too was challenged, and that challenge arrived in 2022 not as another search engine, but in the form of artificial intelligence. I'm talking about ChatGPT. It came two years ago, and now it is ruling the roost. 

ChatGPT registered 365 billion annual searches in 2024. Do you know how much time it took Google to reach this? around 11 years. Think of it as a milestone. 

ChatGPT took two years at this rate. ChatGPT is growing five and a half times faster than Google, although it's not a straight contest, the playing fields are completely different.

Google was launched in the late 90s. At that time, internet was a luxury for few. By contrast, chatgpt came in at a time the world where 5 billion people were online, so there is no comparison. 

But funny enough, that is the story. The Internet has changed, and so has the search ecosystem. You see, traditional search used to be a list. You type a question, Google gives you a sea of blue links you click, you skim, you go back and forth. It's like your own journey for information. 

Artificial Intelligence is different. It gives you the whole answer. Want to know how to fix your basin. Chatgpt will tell you step by step, you want to understand the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Perplexity will give you an overview in 30 seconds, wondering what to give to your niece. Ask Claude ai, What are her interests, and then offers five personalized suggestions. 

AI search has become a dialog, and that has changed everything. Also, this is not just about chatGPT versus Google. This is about a whole landscape that is transforming. 

People are searching for products directly on Amazon. They're discovering recipes on Tiktok. They're researching topics on AI apps. So there is no one way to search anymore, and that is where things get complicated. 

You see, billions of websites rely on traffic. This traffic comes from clicks, and clicks come from search, and that search, until now, meant Google, but AI search does not always send people links. Ai reads the websites, skips the links and just gives you the answer. 

And for publishers, it's a nightmare if no one clicks through. How do writers make money? How do businesses get discovered? How do advertisers get seen? And no, this is not just about websites. Google itself is staring at a business model problem. 

Almost all its revenue comes from ads. That's a multi billion dollar empire, and that empire could be at risk now. So is this the beginning of the end for Google?