Google may be staring at major competition from Microsoft-owned Bing as smartphone giant Samsung is considering replacing Google Search in favour of Bing and ChatGPT, the media has reported. Google has been in "panic" since Samsung started considering bidding adieu to Google as the default search engine for its handsets in March, says a report by The New York Times.
At stake is Google's $3 billion in annual revenue, with the Samsung contract, the report added. It should be noted that pre-installed search engine deals are more about "cash than quality". The report added that the Samsung-Google search contract "is under negotiation, and Samsung could stick with Google."
Mountain View, California-headquartered Google pays billions each year to be the default search engine on popular products with deals framed as either "revenue sharing" or "traffic acquisition fees". Google pays as much as $3.5 billion per year to be the default search on Samsung handsets and it pays Apple $20 billion per year to be the default search on iOS and macOS.
The New York Times report further added that Google believes that the South Korean tech giant's preference for Microsoft Bing as the default search engine for its Galaxy handsets is because of the AI features it offers. Samsung is in "panic mode", considering the switch to Bing.
Samsung is working on its Magi project that will reportedly add features to the existing search engine, according to internal documents. Google has more than 160 people working full-time on it, a person with knowledge of the work said. Magi would keep ads in the mix of search results. Search queries that could lead to a financial transaction, such as buying shoes or booking a flight, for example, would still feature ads on their results pages, the report noted.
A report by ArsTechnica says this is the first time Google has encountered a threat in years, and Samsung could be using that to push Google for a higher share of revenue.