Googling Is for Old People. That’s a Problem for Google.

And it’s not just demographics that are weighing on the search giant. Its core business is under siege from pressures that threaten to dismantle its ecosystem of search dominance and digital advertising.

By Christopher Mims. Excerpts:

"The trends moving against Google are so numerous and interrelated that the Justice Department’s attempt to dismantle the company—the specifics of which were unveiled Nov. 20—could be the least of its problems."

"The company’s core business is under siege. People are increasingly getting answers from artificial intelligence. Younger generations are using other platforms to gather information. And the quality of the results delivered by its search engine is deteriorating as the web is flooded with AI-generated content."

"The first danger facing Google is clear and present: When people want to search for information or go shopping on the internet, they are shifting to Google’s competitors, and advertising dollars are following them. In 2025, eMarketer projects, Google’s share of the U.S. search-advertising market will fall below 50% for the first time since the company began tracking it."

"This shift is due largely to users’ bypassing Google to start their search for goods on Amazon."

"A recent TikTok pitch to advertisers reported on by The Wall Street Journal said that 23% of its users searched for something within 30 seconds of opening the app, and its global search volume was three billion a day."

"The second threat is the rise of “answer engines” like Perplexity which, well, do what they say on the tin. OpenAI has added internet search to ChatGPT, Meta Platforms is exploring building its own search engine, and even AI chatbots that can’t search the internet are proving increasingly capable at addressing many questions. They’re also becoming ever more widespread, as Microsoft and Apple integrate them directly into the operating systems of all the devices they make or support."

"Earlier this year, Google rolled out AI summaries of its own search results to all users in the U.S. The company has said that such innovation is in direct response to intense competition from AI at both startups and tech giants."

"search results are declining overall, no matter how we search the web, because of the proliferation of AI-generated content."

"Without the traffic that Google sends across the web, the incentive and resources to continue producing websites attractive to Google’s search algorithm will decline."

"While Google reported strong revenue growth last quarter, the rate at which people clicked on ads that appear in search results was down 8% compared with a year ago"

"it’s the result of Google’s own AI-based summaries, which eliminate the need to click on sponsored links or scroll down to where the ads are."

"As with its attempt to break up Microsoft, the government’s case against Google may be outpaced by competitive forces far more powerful than antitrust enforcement."