Howdy👋🏾. It’s official: Google has been ruled a monopoly and found to have violated antitrust rules by acting to prevent competition. The facts are clear: Google accounts for 90% of all internet searches, with its closest competitor, Microsoft Bing, at just 6%.

Although Google will likely appeal, we can expect a court decision on remedies within the next few months. This might force Google to break off search, divest certain assets, or – more likely – stop paying companies for default search engine status in web browsers.

This potential change could significantly impact companies like Apple and Mozilla. Apple, for instance, earns an estimated $26 billion a year by making Google the default search engine on Safari across its devices. Mozilla, a non-profit and maker of the popular Firefox browser, faces a more dire situation, with Google’s $400 Million yearly payments accounting for about 80% of its revenue.

Amidst this turmoil, Google faces new competition, especially from AI-enhanced engines. These competitors, including Microsoft with Bing and Copilot, OpenAI with SearchGPT, and Perplexity, are shifting from traditional search to “answer engines.” These platforms provide direct answers to queries, bypassing the list of results and potentially reducing the need for traditional search.

Google’s struggle to adapt has been evident. After making a big splash, it has primarily removed AI Overviews and needs to be faster to incorporate generative AI into its search experience. The next few months will likely bring answers and aggressive strategies from competitors looking to capitalize on Google’s vulnerabilities. Now, onto my sponsors and thoughts on tech & things:

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🤝 This week’s newsletter issue is proudly sponsored by:

If you are looking to find qualified candidates, contact Baird Consulting.

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🎤 Is Meta Building a Celebrity Voice Assistant? Meta is exploring celebrity-voiced AI assistants, potentially transforming how users interact with technology. Read more >

🔄 Microsoft Lists OpenAI as a Competitor Microsoft now views OpenAI as a competitor, reflecting changing dynamics as they develop similar AI products. Read more >

🛠️ OpenAI Unveils Structured Outputs OpenAI’s new feature allows developers to define schemas for responses, enhancing how AI integrates with other systems. Read more >

🎵 Is Suno a Modern-Day Napster Saga? The RIAA sues AI music firms like Suno, challenging the boundaries of copyright law and fair use. Read more >

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The critical question remains: How will companies like Apple, Samsung, and Mozilla react if Google’s payments for default status dry up?

A dirty little secret is that most other search engines heavily license Bing’s search index for their search engines, adding their unique enhancements on top. For instance, DuckDuckGo is Bing’s search results, enhancing them with its own features. Perplexity also licenses Bing to support their search features.

A few years ago, Apple integrated Bing into its native search feature, Spotlight, which alarmed Google that users might not use the browser to search, potentially reducing traffic. If that payday stops, Apple may intensify its efforts with Apple Intelligence, potentially powered by Bing, to transition from traditional search to an answer engine model where Siri answers your question without opening a browser or searching.

Google will definitely continue to face new competition, but maybe the days of traditional search are over. Could this antitrust case be the tipping point for a new era where answers are given directly from AI-powered devices without accessing Google’s site or viewing its ads?

Lastly, I’m honored to announce that Technical.ly has named me one of the top engineers in the mid-Atlantic! I also have some exciting things brewing, including a new speaker series and a book. More will come very soon, so keep your eyes and ears open.

-jason

P.S. Once a year, I think it’s important to ask a pretty simple question—what is a hot dog? Is it a sandwich? Is a hot dog a taco? Is Ravioli Sushi? When is soup a soup, and what are cereal and milk soups? Is coffee a three-bean soup? I’m glad someone has tried to put some rules in place to help us understand what we’re eating—and I love my steak salad.