The impact of Meta’s entry in search
Meta is developing a search engine, signaling a shift in the digital landscape as AI transforms how we access information, challenging Google's dominance.
MUMBAI
The tech world is abuzz, not with another incremental update or a flashy gadget, but with a potential seismic shift in how we navigate the digital world. Meta, the giant behind Facebook and Instagram, is building a search engine. In a world dominated by Google, where even Microsoft’s Bing plays second fiddle, this is a bold move, but it signals something much bigger: the dawn of a new era in search.
You might wonder, “Why bother?” Google, after all, commands over 92% of the global search market. When looked at from Meta’s perspective, a company insider who did not want to be named asked to look at the numbers from an altogether different perspective.
To the untrained eye, Bing may seem like an underdog with a mere 3% share, but it quietly rakes in around $12 billion a year in revenue. Even by Microsoft’s standards, that’s not chump change. And with a typical price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 25 that is the industry standard, Bing could be valued at a staggering $300 billion. There is some fuzziness on how much has been invested over time into Bing—but this is the kind of money that has recouped the investments. So clearly, there’s money to be made even outside Google’s shadow.
Then there is the fact that the “search engine game is changing”. It’s no longer just about indexing web pages and displaying links on a page. The future of search is “Generative AI”. Shorn of all the jargon, what it means is Artificial Intelligence that can understand your intent, sift through vast amounts of information, and present it in a way that’s easy to understand. Imagine asking a question and instead of a list of links, you get a concise, AI-generated summary that answers your question directly. This is what’s powering a new breed of search engines like Perplexity.ai.
Meta is placing its bets on this space. This is also why Microsoft has gone ahead and put its money where its mouth is and has invested in ChatGPT.
So, when looked at from a Generative AI lens, it fundamentally alters how we interact with information online. We are no longer limited to the confines of a browser such as Chrome, Safari or Explorer, and the traditional search engine results that is Google or Bing. We can access information within any app, through voice commands, or even within immersive virtual environments. Meta, with its billions of users across WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook and Instagram, has a powerful distribution channel to bring this new kind of search to the masses.
This brings us to Meta’s grand vision for the “metaverse” – a persistent, shared virtual world where people can interact, participate in experiences, and even conduct business. Think of it as an immersive internet where you’re not just viewing content, but actually in it. A powerful, AI-driven search engine becomes the key to navigating and discovering information within this metaverse. Imagine searching for a product and not just seeing a list of websites, but actually experiencing it in 3D, or searching for a place and being instantly transported there virtually.
For India, the implications are immense. Imagine a shopkeeper in a bustling market accessing real-time market data and customer insights through a voice search on WhatsApp, or a student in a remote village learning complex concepts through interactive AI-powered tutorials in their native language. This could empower small businesses, bridge the digital divide, and fuel a new wave of innovation and economic growth.
Google, of course, won’t take this lying down. They’ve been investing heavily in AI for years, and we can expect them to double down on their efforts. This could lead to more sophisticated conversational interfaces within Google Search, hyper-personalized results, and deeper integration of search within various apps and platforms. Google might also accelerate its own metaverse ambitions, creating a competitive landscape where users have a choice of virtual worlds to explore.
The future of search is uncertain, but one thing is clear: Meta’s entry, coupled with the rise of Generative AI, has shaken things up. The battle lines are drawn, and the race has begun to define the next generation of search. The best is still to come.