ACCC concerned about AI’s failure to disrupt Google’s search dominance
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has called for a review of Google’s dominant search engine market share as generative AI tools fail to disrupt it.
Although AI has brought many technological advances, the ACCC said its use by Google’s competitors has failed to lure users away from the main search engine and diversify.
“We are at a critical inflection point where generative AI tools are enabling technological innovations across a range of digital platform services. In general search, we see Google Search, Microsoft Bing and new entrants launching or integrating AI-based search capabilities,” said ACCC Commissioner Peter Crone.
“Although it is too early to say with certainty, [the] As the use of AI is constantly evolving, the impact of generative AI on market dynamics in general search appears limited so far.
Crone acknowledges that AI is still in its infancy and its use by Bing and other competing search engines is still limited, but is concerned about the lack of change.
The ACCC report also notes that due to their “significant presence throughout the generative AI supply chain”, tech giants like Google and Microsoft are well-equipped to reap the benefits of generative AI. technology in their search engines.
The ACCC also raised concerns about declining search quality, especially as search providers are incentivized to prioritize adverts over actual responses to increase revenue.
“It’s important that consumers quickly find the information and answers they need. However, research quality is difficult to measure because it means different things to different people,” Crone said.
“This report contributes to the ongoing debate about search quality by examining a number of elements, including the prominence of advertisements, the optimization of web pages to improve their ranking by search engine algorithms, personalization and the diversity of results.”
Additionally, the increasing amount of AI-generated content may have the effect of diluting the results pool, making it more difficult to obtain quality search results.
“The possible proliferation of AI-generated content is another perspective for examining search quality. While some consumers may find the AI generative search experience more useful and efficient, others may be concerned about the accuracy and reliability of AI-generated answers to search queries,” a Crone said.
The ACCC report comes as it begins a five-year investigation into the market for digital platform services in Australia and how these services affect competition. This is its fifth report.
