In late 2023 Google’s dominance in the search market is starting to experience subtle yet notable shifts.
According to data from Statcounter, Google’s market share in search was 91.6% in October. This represents a modest decline of 0.79% compared to the same period last year, highlighting a small yet significant shift in the search market landscape. This slight decline is particularly noteworthy given Google’s relatively stable position since the launch of ChatGPT last year.
In contrast, Microsoft’s Bing experienced a decrease in market share, dropping 48 basis points to 3.1%. Meanwhile, Russia’s Yandex saw an increase of 101 basis points. This changing landscape is indicative of a more competitive search market environment.
Web traffic data from Similar Web provides further insights. In October, while Google’s web traffic saw a marginal decrease of 0.4% month-over-month to 2.8 billion, its competitors showed notable increases. Bard, Alphabet’s own venture, saw a 2% rise in traffic to 8.7 million, and Bing’s traffic escalated by 8% to 42.7 million. Most strikingly, ChatGPT’s traffic surged by 4%, reaching 55 million and accounting for approximately 2% of Google’s web traffic, compared to 1.6% in September and 1.8% in August.
Meanwhile TikTok grows attention, and consideration as a search engine.
Whilst Google retains a dominant position, it is the first time in at least a decade where very real alternatives to Google are being considered.
