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How online search is changing

In 1998, the word “google” was used for the first time as a verb. 

In 2002, its verb form became the “most useful word” of the year by the American Dialect Society (an organization founded in 1889 to study the English language in North America).

In 2006, it was added to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary.

Over the last two decades, “googling” something has become a daily activity. Its use as a verb reflects one of the primary ways that humans have used the internet to find what they’re looking for.

Globally, Google has maintained a >90% market share among search engines, but recently, its market share has begun to slip. Less than two years ago, Google had a 93% market share. Today, it’s at 90%. That might not seem like much, but the decline is a symptom of a bigger transition in how people search for information online.

Is it possible that the verb “to google” might disappear as quickly as it emerged? 

This week, we’re exploring the renewed evolution of search engines and the shifting demands of users in a media environment flooded with biased content and misinformation.

// What people want in a search engine

While googling something still remains the most popular way to start an online search, there are now new ways to get answers.

• 61% of online shoppers in the US start their buying searches on Amazon (while only 49% start on search engines like Google).
• Many in Gen Z have made social media their search engine. Google has even conceded that they’re seeing almost 40% of young people going to TikTok and Instagram over Google to find personalized search recommendations that are aligned with user preferences and unique tastes.
• Searching via social media platforms like TikTok also offers a different user experience than a traditional Google search: instead of facing a screen of text-based search results, people can watch quick videos to find answers and fact-check via other user comments.
• Generative AI-enabled search is changing the results at the top of search engines like Google (instead of links, AI is summarizing answers into annotated paragraphs), and AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Perplexity are growing rapidly.

// What people want in a search engine

Back in 1998, when the founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, were PhD students at Stanford, they wrote a paper entitled, The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine, that made a surprising (given what they would eventually build) and prescient prediction: “Advertising funded search engines will be inherently biased towards the advertisers and away from the needs of consumers.” 

Since then, Google has become just that—an advertising-funded search engine. Today, consumers are demanding more from their search engine:

• They want to trust search results: Trust in national and local media has declined for all Americans since 2016, according to research from Pew. With misinformation on the rise, it’s harder to distinguish between what’s true and what’s not.

• Kristin Jackson, CEO of Freespoke, an alternative search engine focused on helping people find the truth faster, told Project Liberty that what she's seeing is that users feel like they might be missing something when searching for information online. “They’re no longer confident in the results,” she said. “They’re wondering, ‘Am I getting the full story.’” 

• They want to find the signal amidst the noise: It’s harder for users to trust search engine results because those results are degrading into spam. This is the finding from researchers in Germany who discovered that search engine results are increasingly filled with advertising and affiliate links.
• They want greater choice to shape the results they get: Browsers like Brave are offering users more control to tailor search results by altering the ranking of standard search algorithms. Such re-ranking of an algorithm is how social media sites customize the content they elevate in feeds, which might be why there is growing trust in the news on social media sites.
• They want greater privacy and safety when searching online: As users resist sharing their personal data with search engines like Google, there is growing use of privacy-focused browsers like DuckDuckGo and Brave that provide users with greater control over privacy settings. In 2020, DuckDuckGo increased its traffic by 62% in one year. Since then it’s expanded into other privacy-related offerings. Earlier this year, Brave had its biggest month-over-month growth in active users since its launch in 2019.

// Case-study: Freespoke

Freespoke, an up-and-coming search engine that had 8 million monthly visits last month, is focused on giving users the ability to access both sides of the story in their search results—with privacy and without pornography. Three features differentiate it from traditional search:

1. It delivers news from across the spectrum and labels media bias so people can see a range of perspectives on the same story or search query.
2. It protects privacy by anonymizing all searches.
3. It fights sex trafficking and child abuse by filtering out pornography and CSAM in search results.

Jackson emphasized that the key value proposition is for users to have more control over their ability to navigate information. “Google is everywhere,” she said. “But you aren’t stuck, and you can start to take some control back. Collectively, we have more access to information than ever before, but we also feel less informed and don’t know how to find the truth.”

Above the standard search results, Freespoke provides an “All Sides” list of results that labels the news publication (not the article's contents) based on its political leaning (Left, Middle, or Right). The labels are determined by widely respected publisher labeling methodologies, including Ad Fontes. Freespoke also provides a separate list of “non-mainstream” search results and coverage.

While understanding both sides of an issue can be valuable in today’s fractured news environment, some see a risk in trusting the public with this level of detail, fearing it could predispose someone to trust or discount a certain publication. Earlier this year, researchers from Cornell found that labels warning about misinformation “decreased trust in misinformation somewhat but decreased trust in accurate information even more.”

Freespoke, a Project Liberty Alliance member, is an example of how search is innovating: becoming more specialized, more private, and more responsive to user preferences.

During a week like this of breaking news, Freespoke’s Election Portal provides real-time county-by-county election results alongside media coverage from all viewpoints.

// The mega-trends

What’s happening in search engines mirrors a larger trend sweeping the web: users reclaiming control and making their experience more personalized, more private, and safer. With our digital footprints extending between apps and across different browsers and search engines, how we find the information we look for is increasingly decentralized, which means we might not use the verb google as much as we used to.

Project Liberty news

// Watch the livestream of the Project Liberty Summit on the future of the internet

November 21st & 22nd

In two weeks, Project Liberty will convene the top leaders in technology, policy, finance, and civil society at the Project Liberty Summit to craft the digital blueprint for the next four years and the action roadmap to get it done. It’s an invite-only event, but anyone can watch the livestream of the mainstage events. Register here.

Other notable headlines

// 🤔 A Stanford researcher predicted that AI will understand humans better than humans do. His most recent research, according to an article in WIRED, says that AI has mastered the concept of “theory of mind.”

// 🗳 An article in Tech Policy Press provided a guide to social media moderation policies for the post-election period.

// 🇲🇽 Mexican TikTokers have code words to report on narco-violence without getting banned. Creators use euphemisms and emojis to get around content moderation restrictions, according to an article in Rest of World.

// 📱 An article in the Wall Street Journal profiled the perspectives of different college student on TikTok’s algorithm and how social media should change.

// 💵 OpenAI is making progress to transform its non-profit structure into a for-profit business, according to an article in Bloomberg.

// 🧱 Crypto voters are becoming a powerful influence in electoral decisions. According to an article in Forbes, 71% of crypto voters across political parties prefer candidates who support transparent and fair crypto regulations.

Partner news & opportunities

// Cyberattack sparks reflection on Internet Archive's value

In a recent NPR interview, Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle shared how a recent cyberattack took the Archive offline for days. Kahle confirmed no data was lost, but the incident served as a stark reminder of the Archive’s importance in protecting digital knowledge for future generations.

// Podcast questions techno-optimism

In a recent podcast episode of Policy Prompt, the Centre for International Governance Innovation hosted economist (and member of Project Liberty’s Fair Data Economy Task Force) Daron Acemoglu to examine how AI and technology affect work, education, and economic power, challenging the belief that tech inherently drives progress. Listen here.

// The Washington Post featured Block Party.

An article in the Washington Post showed how Block Party, a Project Liberty Alliance member, can reduce your exposure online and improve your security.

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