Google’s reaction to the reports of Samsung favoring Bing was “panic”, reported The New York Times
Android users are used to seeing Google as its default search engine, but that might not be the case for future buyers of Samsung phones. According to reports, Samsung is planning to ditch Google’s search engine in favor of Bing for future phones. The rise of AI chatbots has made Bing, a minor player in the industry compared to Google, the center of attraction.
Following the popularity of ChatGPT, Microsoft included AI technology into its own search engine to create Bing Chat. Despite the small errors, Bing Chat has gained massive recognition and quickly became one of the go-to chatbots in the market. The chatbot is also being favored by users for its cooperative and personal responses compared to Google search.
Is Google fumbling?
Google’s reaction to the reports of Samsung favoring Bing was “panic”, reported The New York Times. Google employees were shocked when they learned in March that the South Korean consumer electronics giant was considering replacing their services with Microsoft’s Bing. An estimated $3 billion in annual revenue was at with the Samsung contract. According to reports, an additional $20 billion is tied up to a similar Apple contract that is up for renewal this year. Google’s response to ChatGPT and Bing Chat had been less exciting. They have announced rival Google Bard and are slowly testing its services.
Several competitors including Bard had been posing the latest threats to Google search business recently. In response to these competitors, Google is currently working on developing a new search engine wrought by technology. The tech giant is also planning to upgrade its existing software with new AI features. The new search engine is expected to offer a far more personalized user experience than the company currently offers.
The new changes, undoubtedly, would have a big impact on the tech world. Modernizing the tech sector becomes an immediate priority for the company right now. “The Samsung threat represented the first potential crack in Google’s seemingly impregnable search business, which was worth $162 billion last year”, reports The New York Times.
Will replacing Google be an easy task for Samsung?
Abandoning Google and including a new search engine would be a hard task for Samsung. Some professionals weigh in that it would sometimes be impossible to ditch Google completely from phones, at least in some markets like the United States.
Experts mention that any company that wishes to develop Android phones with Google’s services must conform to its MDMA or Mobile Application Distribution Agreement. It states that phone companies that wish to use applications like Google Play must also have Google Search as its default search engine. Andreas Proschofsky, the derStandard reporter, points out that markets like Europe and India are different. Proschofsky states that those Android phones have a search engine choice screen that is required by some governing bodies. So, it will be a hard task to get rid of Google completely.
The chain reaction
Alphabet Inc.’s shares plummeted as much as 4% on Monday after the report on Samsung replacing Google came out. Google had earlier dominated the search market with a share of over 80%, but Wall Street estimates that the company might be falling behind Microsoft in a competitive AI race. The stock fell $104.90, erasing $50 billion from Alphabet’s market capitalization.
Microsoft, on the other hand, outperformed with an increase of 1%. James Cordwell, Atlantic Equities analyst, stated that investors had anxieties about Google becoming a lazy monopolist in search and the developments in the past two months have been a “wake-up call” for the company. The cost tied up with making Google search more competitive can also be a cause of concern, added Cordwell. On Feb 8, Alphabet lost $100 billion in value after Bard shared inaccurate information in a promotional video and a firm event failed to dazzle, reports Reuters. The shares ended 2.7% lower at $105.9 on Monday.
In what way will this affect Samsung phones?
Existing smartphones will continue to have Google search engines, while the new phones will have Bing preinstalled instead of Google. All this happens only if Samsung goes through with the replacement. Customers will still be able to download apps like google chrome from the play store, but it won’t be preinstalled. The replacement, however, if happens, will bring forward massive changes in the tech industry and any latest developments will be keenly observed by the big players in the industry.
