Google: The First Real Sign of a Crisis?
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According to a CNBC article, Google may, for the first time, be facing a major threat to its dominance.
This is not a new discussion, as it has been going on for some time, but there is now data to support these concerns, including the company's recent decline in stock value.
What is the problem?
For more than two decades, Google's search engine has been the primary gateway to information online.
Today, however, the rise of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT and other similar platforms is changing the way many people search for answers on the web.
The article highlights how a growing number of users are turning to these tools to get information directly, bypassing Google's traditional search results page altogether.
This has led investors and analysts to question the future of Google's dominance in online search.
Unfortunately for Google, the growing number of talented employees leaving the company to join artificial intelligence startups, combined with its poor stock market performance, is beginning to validate the concerns of analysts and those who had predicted a significant decline in Google's position (source: "Google's Online Dominance Is Showing Signs of Cracking in AI Era," CNBC).
What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from This News
Customers Choose Solutions to Problems, Not Companies
Strictly personal opinion: although this may prove to be the most significant challenge in its history, I think the CNBC article is a little too alarmist... Google has faced serious threats in the past and has always emerged stronger.
The Mountain View giant has the resources and capabilities to adapt and recover from this situation as well, so, to be completely honest, I don't see such a bleak future for Google.
But as I've always said, personal opinions don't matter much.
What matters is the data.
And if you look closely at the current data, you'll find that business success doesn't depend on being the biggest, the most famous, or the longest-established company.
People don't choose a company just because it's the market leader.
They choose it because, at that particular moment, it's the best way to achieve the result they want.
Why do so many of us buy from Amazon?
Because we know its customer service is reliable and we expect competitive prices.
We don't care that Amazon is the leader in e-commerce; many people who shop there don't even know what e-commerce is or that there are market leaders in the first place.
The only thing they care about is not paying more than the market value for something and knowing that any problems will be resolved, and we know we can get all of that from Amazon.
The same principle applies to Google.
For years, it was the fastest and most convenient way to find information online.
If someone wanted to know something, they opened Google, typed in a question, and got an answer.
Users weren't in love with Google; they were interested in the information.
In fact, over the years, Google has probably generated more frustration than affection, since no one used it because they enjoyed using a search engine.
This is a concept every entrepreneur should keep in mind.
Customers don't become as attached to a product or service as we think they do.
What really matters to customers is the problem they're trying to solve and how effectively the company they've chosen solves it (source: "Know Your Customers' 'Jobs to Be Done'," Harvard Business Review).
Of course, a company or product must initially inspire trust, because trust is the most valuable currency in business.
But once that trust has been earned, the company or product must actually solve the customer's problem.
Think about a drill.
No one buys a drill because they want to own one.
They buy it because they want to make a hole in the wall.
And if tomorrow there were an easier, faster, or more convenient way to achieve the same result, many people would stop buying drills without thinking twice.
The same thing happens in business:
- A restaurant doesn't sell tables and chairs; it sells an experience.
- A consultant doesn't sell hours of work; they sell solutions.
- A software company doesn't sell features; it sells results.
Instead of asking, "How can I sell my product more effectively?" we should start asking, "How can I help my customer achieve the result they want more effectively?"
Many companies disappear because they keep improving the product they've always sold while the market evolves.
They remain focused on their solution and stop paying attention to the problem their customers are trying to solve.
Companies that endure do the opposite: they keep observing their customers, their needs, and their habits, and if they discover a better way to help them, they're willing to change.
That's why entrepreneurs should never become too attached to the product they're selling today.
Products, technologies, and markets change, but, as I always say on this blog and as scientific and psychological research also confirms, the problems people face have been the same since the dawn of time.