Google’s search share dipped below 90% for the first time in years, signaling a shift toward AI-driven tools.
Sectors & Industries
June 27, 2025
Table of Contents
Google’s dominance in the search engine market is facing its most serious challenge in over a decade. For the first time since 2015, Google's global search market share has dropped below 90%, signaling a potential shift in user behavior and the rise of new search paradigms led by AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, DeepSeek, and Grok.
According to Statcounter Global Stats and corroborated by multiple X (formerly Twitter) posts and independent reports, Google’s global search market share slipped to 89.34% in October 2024, 89.99% in November, 89.73% in December, and stood at 89.66% in May 2025. This marks the first sustained period under 90% in nearly a decade.
While a sub-1% decline might appear marginal, it represents a significant milestone given Google's previously unshakable lead. Search Engine Land and several analysts have confirmed this as a meaningful shift driven by evolving user needs and technological competition.
There is growing dissatisfaction with traditional search results, often described as cluttered with ads, SEO-optimized content, and irrelevant links. Users—particularly younger ones—are now seeking faster, more direct answers rather than sifting through search result pages.
One of the major forces driving users away from traditional search engines like Google is a growing dissatisfaction with the quality of results. Many users have voiced concerns that Google's search pages are increasingly dominated by "SEO sludge" and "link farms"—pages built more for algorithms than for people. Instead of clear, helpful answers, users are often met with sponsored links, irrelevant ads, or keyword-stuffed content designed to rank, not inform.
This frustration is pushing more people, especially younger users toward AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. These platforms bypass the clutter by delivering direct, conversational, and context-aware responses that feel more like having a conversation with an expert than scanning a list of links. As the appetite for real answers grows, so does the shift away from traditional search paradigms.
AI-native tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and DeepSeek offer a fundamentally different user experience. Instead of serving links, they generate direct, human-like answers, often summarizing complex topics in seconds.
Still, according to SparkToro (March 2025), even if every ChatGPT prompt were a search query, Google would still handle 373 times more searches—highlighting the scale gap.
Despite their buzz, AI search engines remain fragmented and far smaller in reach compared to Google. Here’s a snapshot:
Google still handles the overwhelming majority of search queries and has a deep moat in terms of infrastructure, data scale, and revenue. But the rate of change is what makes AI search notable.
Google faces a classic disruption dilemma. Its $200 billion search ad business is built around clickable links, not direct answers. AI-generated responses, while more user-friendly, are harder to monetize—and significantly more expensive to deliver.
This monetization challenge is reflected in Google's stock performance. Technical analysts report the stock is trading below its 55-day and 200-day moving averages, with bearish RSI divergences signaling investor concern.
It’s too early to declare Google’s decline or crown a new king of search. But momentum is shifting. AI search engines are growing fast, with Coherent Market Insights forecasting the AI search market to grow from $43.6 billion in 2025 to $108.9 billion by 2032, a CAGR of 14%. However, other firms like Business Research Insights peg that number far lower, indicating uncertainty in how the market is defined and measured.
Gemini, Google’s own AI-powered chatbot and assistant, is the company’s strategic response to ChatGPT and other conversational search tools. It’s designed to keep users within the Google ecosystem by offering direct answers, summaries, and contextual insights.
However, there are three major challenges Gemini faces:
The rise of AI search tools is not just a feature shift—it’s a business model challenge. While the growing market doesn’t directly subtract from Google’s revenue, it threatens to disrupt how that revenue is earned. If more users move away from clickable, ad-supported search to AI-driven answers, Google must either reinvent its monetization strategy or risk seeing erosion in its dominance.
Gemini could help slow that shift—but unless it solves both the monetization problem and user experience gap, it may not be enough to fully protect Google’s $200 billion search empire.
Still, younger users are increasingly defaulting to AI tools for information, skipping the search box altogether.
While AI search isn't yet the new king, it’s no longer a novelty. It’s a credible challenger—and it's growing fast. If user behavior continues shifting at this pace, the search wars of the next five years may look very different than those of the last.
While the spotlight remains on Google's core search business, it's important to remember that Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company, is far more diversified than just search advertising. Key segments like YouTube, Google Cloud, Android, and Google Play continue to generate billions in annual revenue and offer strategic hedges against shifts in search behavior.
As Google works to defend its core search empire, it’s simultaneously pushing into new AI frontiers. At Google I/O 2025, the company unveiled Veo 3, its most advanced video generation model to date—and possibly the most realistic AI video tool available to the public.
Veo 3 can generate high-definition, 8-second videos with audio, dialogue, consistent characters, and cinematic camera controls—marking a massive leap beyond anything previously seen. Within hours of launch, short films made entirely with Veo 3 flooded X, Instagram, and Reddit. Many of these clips were so realistic, users didn’t realize they were AI-generated.
One standout example, Influenders, created by Yonatan Dor of The Dor Brothers studio, was built using Veo 3 in just two days. The film depicts social media influencers reacting to an unfolding catastrophe—and looks eerily lifelike. “It’s easily the most advanced tool available publicly right now,” Dor told Mashable, praising its adherence to prompts and dialogue rendering.
This breakthrough positions Google at the cutting edge of generative media—but it also introduces profound risks. While Veo 3 could democratize video production and slash costs for creators and studios, its potential for misuse is just as powerful. Experts warn that deepfakes, fake news clips, and synthetic outrage content are about to become much harder to detect.
To its credit, Google has embedded SynthID watermarks in Veo 3 videos and rolled out detection tools to early testers. The company is also partnering with filmmakers and emphasizing responsible use. But even with safeguards, it’s clear that we’re entering a new media era—one where the line between real and artificial is no longer obvious.
For Google, Veo 3 represents both an opportunity and a liability. On one hand, it shows Google is still capable of shipping category-defining AI products. On the other, it underscores how far the company is moving from monetizable, ad-based search toward high-cost, high-risk AI media tools that are harder to regulate and control.
Still, search remains Google’s most profitable and foundational business, and any structural erosion that carries long-term risks. While Gemini and other AI initiatives aim to evolve how Google delivers value, the company will need to balance innovation with monetization to protect its dominant position.
In short, Google has the tools, capital, and reach to adapt, but the rise of AI search marks a genuine inflection point. Whether Google can transition its legacy business model fast enough remains one of the most important questions in tech and advertising over the next decade.
Join LevelFields now to be the first to know about events that affect stock prices and uncover unique investment opportunities. Choose from events, view price reactions, and set event alerts with our AI-powered platform. Don't miss out on daily opportunities from 6,300 companies monitored 24/7. Act on facts, not opinions, and let LevelFields help you become a better trader.
AI scans for events proven to impact stock prices, so you don't have to.
LEARN MORE