/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24016885/STK093_Google_04.jpg)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24808816/Starfield__The_Settled_Systems___Supra_Et_Ultra_____Starfield__The_Settled_Systems___Supra_Et_Ultra_2023_7_25_94252.263_1440p_streamshot.png)
After rumors that Samsung might change the default search engine of its in-house browser app from Google to Bing – perhaps around the time of the Galaxy S24 – a new report suggests that the change is no longer happening, which is undoubtedly a relief for Google A matter of.
This one comes from The Wall Street Journal (via The Verge), and like the original rumor, there’s not much to it. The WSJ says that an internal review of whether Samsung should make the jump from Google to Bing has now been suspended, with Samsung apparently worried about disruption to users and a souring of its relationship with Google.
Those obviously negative aspects of any potential Switch made the idea of it pretty unimaginative at first, although it seems like Samsung was thinking about it – perhaps influenced by the rapid roll out of various Bing AI features .
remains number one
Another factor to consider in all of this is that we’re talking about Samsung’s own internet browser app: of course Google would still have been front and center in Chrome for Android. Nevertheless, the move must have generated a lot of headlines.
We do know that Google actually pays Apple to be the default search engine in Safari, an arrangement that’s probably easier for Apple to swallow since it doesn’t have a search engine of its own. Google then rakes in billions in advertising revenue through searches run on iOS (and indeed Samsung handsets).
All that said, the WSJ, citing “people familiar with the matter,” says that Samsung isn’t “permanently closing the door” on switching to Bing in the future — so Google executives have yet to decide. Some work may be done.
Analysis: Search is changing
One of the ways OpenAI and ChatGPT have changed the tech landscape is by giving Microsoft an intelligent chatbot that can return better search results in certain situations. Google has since incorporated its own Bard chatbot into a variety of products, including its flagship web search engine.
This means that in future years, we may spend less time opening a web browser and typing in our queries, and more time interacting with bots to get the information we need. This in turn is likely to have an impact on advertising revenue – both for Google and for web publishers.
It’s hard to predict how this is all going to play out, but we may get to a point where it’s not so important for Google to be the number one search engine over Samsung’s Internet browser or Apple’s Safari, if it goes the other way. Attracting users. In fact, it’s surprising that it’s taken so long for web search to grow beyond its original form.
There are all kinds of uncertainties moving forward about how these bots get their information and how the humans providing the content get compensated, but it will be interesting to see how the search landscape changes — and whether Bing (or any And) ) can really challenge Google.
