Many people no longer say “Google” when searching the Internet. Gen Z and Gen Alpha in particular are rejecting the term, which has to do with a central search shift.
Will we hear sentences like “I’ll just google it!” much less often in the future? This is suggested by an analysis by Bernstein Research which, among other things, Business Insider reported. Addressing investors at Bernstein Research, analyst Mark Shmulik:
So long Google, the verb. Younger audiences are ’searching‘, not ‚Googling‘.
In doing so, he also refers to a search shift that is being taken into account not least by younger generations as well as TikTok, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Co.
More search than Googling? Google has a search monopoly, but also more and more competition
How powerful Google really is in the search engine market is not only shown by the global market share of over 90 percent. No traditional search engine can even come close to competing with Google. In the context of a court case between the US Department of Justice and Google, US federal judge Amit Mehta the company is said to have a monopoly position:
After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.
However, his judgment also shows that he considers Google to be the most comprehensive search solution; Google itself writes that the company therefore provides the best search engine. Many people share this opinion. For around 20 years, Google has dominated the search market, not completely unchallenged, but extremely dominant. This reflects the fact that the verb was already included in the Duden The meaning was initially given as “search on the Internet, especially in Google”. However, a short time later, Google insisted that it should refer specifically to its own search engine for brand protection reasons. The entry now reads “search and research on the Internet with Google®”.
Google is still the most important place for many users and, for many, the first port of call for internet searches. In the State of Search Report 2024 by Claneo and Appinio, 81 percent of respondents said they use Google at least every two to three days. However, the study also highlights a search shift. According to the study, users often search on other platforms and with other tools, such as AI chatbots such as ChatGTP. In addition, depending on the intention, a search often no longer begins on Google at all. Martin GrahlManaging Director of Claneo, comments on the increasingly diverse search behavior of users on the Internet:
Even though search engines such as Google or similar are, as expected, the leading platforms for information searches, search behavior on the Internet is now very diverse. The choice of search platform depends in particular on the age of the searcher, the topic and the search intent (product search, brand search or information search). For example, when searching for instructions, Gen Z uses TikTok and chatbots such as ChatGPT (almost 25 percent) in addition to Google and YouTube. It was also exciting to see that Google is no longer the first port of call for product searches, but rather Amazon (primarily for cheap products) and one’s own favorite website, depending on the topic (e.g. Booking.com, MediaMarkt or Zalando).
State of Search 2024:
From Google to Perplexity
– this is how Germany searches
Search shift particularly evident among Gen Z
There are now various alternatives to Google that go beyond competing search engines such as Ecosia, Bing, DuckDuckGo and the like. On the one hand, users use e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Temu or Zalando to start product searches. On the other hand, searches are often carried out in the video context. Google’s subsidiary YouTube is particularly suitable for this, which, according to the State of Search Report, 71 percent of respondents regularly use. In the video context, users – especially young people – also search a lot on Instagram and TikTok. TikTok in particular has made huge upgrades in the search area in recent years – from the search widget to search ads and search highlights – and was even specifically cited by Google in court as competition in the search market.
But it’s not just searching via social platforms and forums like Reddit that’s gaining relevance. Obtaining information using AI tools is also becoming increasingly important. While Google itself is increasingly relying on AI functionalities for research and more with the AI chatbot Gemini and AI Overviews in search, millions of users rely on AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot to get news, information or simply details on specific questions. In addition, many rely on so-called AI answering machines like Perplexity. Perplexity currently has around 15 million monthly active users, and the number is rising. Perplexity processes over 230 million search queries per month.
More and more people are using this option, as well as many in-app search options from other large platforms. For example, Meta integrated Meta AI (not Europe) into the large platforms in order to optimize search queries. However, search results from Google and Bing are included. Searches are becoming more differentiated, and for many people it is no longer a simple matter of “I’ll just google it!” This is especially true for digital natives who grew up in a social media age and with entertainment apps. Shumlik also explains:
Gen Zers, and especially Gen Alpha, barely use Google as a verb anymore, they simply say to ’search it‘. For those with teenage kids try asking them to find something online and describe what they’re doing while they’re doing it to see what they say.
This development could cause concern for Google. The company remains the industry leader in the classic search market. However, by 2026, search volume on classic search engines could fall by an immense 25 percent. This is the forecast of the market research company Gartner, Inc. Overall, search patterns are changing more and more quickly than ever. And so it is hardly surprising that Googling could lose its status as a central synonym for searching on the Internet. This only underlines Google’s demand to define the meaning more narrowly in the Duden and other dictionaries.
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The vision of Google competitor Perplexity
Source: onlinemarketing.de
