OpenAI: ChatGPT Web Search Volume Hits 20% of Google's
OpenAI says web searches run through ChatGPT have reached about one-fifth of Google's search volume, as the company expands ads and interactive answers.
OpenAI says the volume of web searches performed through ChatGPT has reached 20 percent of Google's search volume. Adam Fry, the company's head of ChatGPT consumer products, shared the figure at a press event.
The number comes with caveats. OpenAI counts as a "search" only those interactions in which a user's query triggers a lookup on the web. Explanations of a concept or answers to a simple how-to question are not included. Fry also did not disclose the source of the Google search volume used for the comparison.
Even so, the figure shows a wide gap remains between the two platforms. It still stands out against past benchmarks: in the 2023 Google antitrust case, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Bing held roughly 3 percent of the search market after years of investment.
Beyond a list of links
OpenAI does not see search as just a list of links. Under an approach it calls "Intelligent UI", the company wants to build visual and interactive interfaces inside chatbot answers. Fry said users will in future deal not only with a chatbot but with a kind of interactive digital workspace.
Google is also rebuilding search around AI. Alongside AI Overviews, it keeps adding generative features such as personalized results, charts and visualizations.
Ads take a bigger role
Ads are another focus for OpenAI. The company is expanding ad formats in ChatGPT and now shows sponsored products and services with images, not only a name, logo and link. According to Fry, there is no sign that ads have had a negative, lasting effect on ChatGPT usage.
If OpenAI's search growth continues, advertising could become a more important revenue line for the company.
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