According to Statista’s Digital Market Insights, estimated global search advertising revenue was estimated to be $260 billion last year and could reach $400 billion by 2026.
At Google’s Mountain View, California, headquarters, the release of OpenAI’s conversational chatbot ChatGPT late last year raised red flags since the management of the firm saw the emerging technology as a serious threat to its main search business. To make matters worse, Microsoft, one of Google’s last surviving competitors in the search business, and OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT, are collaborating closely.
And sure enough, Microsoft’s Tuesday announcement of a new Bing-powered by a cutting-edge OpenAI model that is “more powerful than ChatGPT” and tailored exclusively for search confirmed Google’s worst suspicions regarding ChatGPT.
“AI will fundamentally change every software category, starting with the largest category of all – search,” Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement, calling the AI-powered versions of Bing to search and Edge browser “an AI copilot for the web.”
Since the debut of Bing in 2009, that announcement was undoubtedly the most overt attack against Google and its search business. Though one could argue that Bing’s entry barely affected Google’s hegemony, this time around, things feel different since technological advancements have frequently been accompanied by changes in the balance of power; just ask Nokia. However, losing just a few percentage points in market share would result in billions of dollars in lost advertising revenue, even if Google is able to maintain its dominant position in the search market.
According to the Wall Street Journal, ChatGPT creator Sam Altman is in investor talks at a $29 billion valuation with venture capital companies Thrive Capital and Founders Fund, which are in discussions to invest in the deal.
Global search advertising revenue was estimated to be $260 billion last year and could reach $400 billion by 2026, according to Statista’s Digital Market Insights.