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Earlier this year, things looked dire for Google. AI search was rapidly eroding the companys market share, as people turned to ChatGPT and dedicated generative apps like Perplexity to search for information. In January, reports showed that the companys search market share had dropped below 90% for the first time in almost a decade. And as the year continued, it seemed like it would keep plummeting. Now new data from search analytics company BrightEdge shows that the bleeding appears to be over. Googles market share has stabilized, and has even begun to tick up. Why? Google is fighting back against the onslaught of AI search. And its winning. Stemming the tide BrightEdge is a massive SEO firm that works with giant clientsincluding a majority of the Fortune 500to rank their websites in search. That gives the company a unique perspective on whats working in SEO at any given moment. And for most of this year, it saw Google floundering. In data that BrightEdge shared with me in advance of publishing the new findings, Google had lost 1.5% of the search market share in 2025. That might not seem like much, but given that people perform around 5 trillion Google searches per year, a loss of 1.5% amounts to billions of queries. As of this month, though, BrightEdge told me that Googles market share increased from 90.54% to 90.71%. I spoke with BrightEdges CEO, Jim Yu, to put that in perspective. Yu acknowledged that while an increase of 0.17% might seem small, given the scale involved, its actually a big deal. We conservatively estimate each percent of search market share equates to between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in ad revenue, Yu told me. That means Googles little uptick is worth a cool $340 million. Winners and losers Google is probably celebrating its market share gain and hundred-million-dollar windfall. But executives will be even happier to know where that market share came from. Yu told me that as Google gained share, newcomers like Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Grok lost share for the first time since BrightEdge started tracking such things. Googles market share has been slowly and consistently eroding since December 2024, a pattern that we never saw previously over several years of analysis. In parallel we saw the AI search (ChatGPT/Perplexity/Claude) consistently gaining market share over the same period. That pattern was broken recently with Googles market share increasing and at the exact same time decreasing for multiple AI search engines, Yu told me in our interview. The fact that these two happened at the same time points to some people switching back to Google for queries handled by AI, he said. Part of this might be AI fatigue. People may have tried ChatGPT or Perplexity when the tools were cool and new, but ultimately switched back to Google, the old stalwart. And OpenAIs rollout of GPT-5 was a disaster. That flop might have driven people back to Google. But BrightEdge has a different theory. In a statement, the company said, Data suggests the release of Googles AI Mode contributed to this recovery, with specific increases in long-tail querying in Google indicating widespread use of the search engine’s new AI feature helping boost Googles gains. Yu confirmed this to me in our interview. When I asked him if Googles AI Mode helped drive the rebound, he told me: This is a hypothesis strongly supported by the data. Google, in other words, did not take the worlds pivot to AI search lying down but rather aggressively rolled out features like AI Overviews and AI Mode. And based on the data, those AI-powered features are slowly clawing back the users it lost to its AI-powered rivals. What to do So, based on the churn in the AI search space, what are marketers and business owners to do? Dont get distracted, Yu told me. As much as everybody is talking about AI search, it is still a very small fraction of the searches at less than 0.3% by our estimate. Google is still the main channel for driving purchases, leads, viewers, or conversions important to a business. As Google rolls in even more AI features, the distinction between AI-powered and traditional search will likely continue to fade. The contest will gradually become one of Google versus the Groks and Perplexities of the worldnot one of AI search versus traditional methods. Thats a contest Google is likely to win. Its no wonder that in emails with Elon Musk in OpenAIs early days, the company indicated that it feared only one thingnot regulation, the need to raise trillions of dollars in funding, or the specter of runaway AGIbut Google. Yu also told me that marketers should remember the basics. Google has publicly stated that the way to get into AI results is with good SEO, he said. In addition, each major AI engine relies on a traditional search index [ChatGPT uses Bing, Claude uses Brave, Google uses its own index]. For these reasons, CMOs dont want separate teams optimizing for SEO and AI search as this will yield mediocre outcomes for both. Instead, companies should optimize their content for traditional search and AI-driven search at the same time, Yu said. Thats an approach that I advocate in my GEO work as well. The way to rank well in chatbots is to have a strong brand, good technical basics, and amazing content. Those are the same things you need to rank well in traditional search (and to convince actual people to buy your products, by the way!). Overall, BrightEdges data is a reminder not to put too much stock in shiny new things. Yes, its hard to turn a ship as big as Googles. But once that ship has turned, if it happens to encounter a minnow, dont be surprised who gets smushed.
Category:
E-Commerce
Below, Eric Becker shares five key insights from his new book, The Long Game: A Playbook of the Worlds Most Enduring Companies. Eric is the founder and chairman at Cresset, an award-winning multi-family office with billions in assets under management. He also co-founded Sterling Partners, a value-added, growth private equity firm. With his long history of starting, backing, and nurturing companies, Eric advises founders, entrepreneurs, private equity partners, and ultra-high worth families. Whats the big idea? Companies that last not one generation, not two, but for a hundred years and beyond share certain things in common. It is no accident when a company ends up lasting, rather than being sold. What it takes is setting your business up intentionally for the long game. Listen to the audio version of this Book Biteread by Eric himselfbelow, or in the Next Big Idea App. 1. Recognize a moment of truth Businesses dont fail for a lack of vision. They usually fail because of a lack of great execution. Its knowing what to do and when to do it that makes all the difference. Thats a moment of truth. Im fascinated with moments of truth. In a lifetime, how many moments of truth might there be? Its probably less than 20, or maybe less than a dozen. Theres just not that many of them. Learning to identify a moment of truth is an incredibly important skillwhether its deciding where to live, who to marry, choosing a career, or what kind of company to start. Every leader faces critical moments of truth, but recognizing when you are faced with that decision is essential. The ability to not only see and accept that you must act but also recognize when you shouldnt. A moment of truth is what follows. A Centurion has this special talent of recognizing moments of truth and making the necessary pivots. They learn who they can trust in these moments and make critical, tough decisions. If you make the right decision in a moment of truth, it can change everything. 2. Adopt a myth-busting mindset Centuries-old businesses are often seen as dusty, bureaucratic, or slow and resistant to change. But Ive found its the complete opposite. Centurions are some of the most agile, adaptive, and forward-thinking organizations in the world. Theyve mastered the art of adaptation because their very existence depends on it. Companies today that will likely outlive the next century share the same qualities. This is the idea of embracing resiliency, adaptability, and vision. Legacy organizations have a great sense of urgency. They dont tolerate poor performance, and they dont sit on their laurels. They have a sense of priority, importance, and timing. Centurions are some of the most agile, adaptive, and forward-thinking organizations in the world. Take a business like Ferragamo, or families like the Vanderbilts who have operated the historic 130-year-old Biltmore Estate since 1895, and even the famous Smuckers Family. On the surface, they might seem like echoes of the past, rooted in history and resistant to change. But dig a little deeper and youll see theyve survived through war, the Great Depression, the Great Recession, the Pandemic, natural disasters, competition, technologyyou name it, theyve seen it all. A myth-busting mindset helped them survive. Think about what stereotype you are working against. How can you break the myth? How can you hone that survival instinct to do whatever it takes to change perception and move your company forward? 3. Be a super steward Embracing stewardship supersedes any other mission-critical priority. Very few leaders or families truly understand what this means when we say it. Stewardship is recognizing that the enterprise is greater than any one individual in the organization, including you. Every decision you make is made with the understanding that this move will protect and preserve the company for generations to come. Thats not how most entrepreneurs and even many family businesses operate. As a result, there is a crisis happening in America right now involving succession. But when you consistently demonstrate that stewardship supersedes everything else within your organization, that ethos ripples into every facet of your organization and becomes ingrained within your business or family and onto the next generation. Its a big mindset shift, but stewardship has the power to become the protective shield for everything you love most. Thats how you start to build your legacy. Ive seen it time and again: when employees understand and are included in their companys mission and principles, and believe in it themselves, theyre proven to be more committed. Youre essentially building a dedicated army of stewards, passionately carrying out the founders vision. 4. Have a succession plan The best CEOs and leaders realize its not about them. Its about everyone else. They look at the organization or the family and realize that they are responsible for bringing this business into the future. Only one-third of family-owned businesses make it to the second generation, and just 12 percent survive to the third. I had grown up in a family business. My father started a company that lasted for 53 years, which was amazing. But he didnt have a succession plan. Ultimately, the company had to be sold. What had been missing? What had my dad needed to pass his business on? Ethical succession is seen in these 100-year-plus businesses. Having a viable, thoughtful, and ethical long-term succession plan is a critical part of being a steward. Only one-third of family-owned businesses make it to the second generation, and just 12 percent survive to the third. There is nothing that matters more to me than my own family and business knowing and trusting that the value Ive placed on the plan ahead will carry them forward for generations. The family office has to evolve in order to survive. 5. Build centurion culture from day one To break through and to get ahead, culture is critical. Centurions were the commanders that led 100 soldiers in the Roman army, and they didnt lead from behind. They led from up front. They were the strong leaders who set the culture for that group and took them forward into victory. When Avy Stein and I started Cresset, we put culture first and told people to act like owners. Now, 65 percent of Cresset is actually employee-owned. Our 100-year horizon shapes every decision, from technology to talent. From day one, we focused on questions like: What kind of company will we become? How will we treat each other? How will we treat customers and clients? We also told the first 10 team members tht we were on a 100-year journey together, which is what The Long Game is all about. When you build a company with that kind of long-term focus, you dont need an exit. Ironically, thats what makes it even more attractive, because its built to last, not to sell. We developed what we now call the culture card. We took all the principles and practices around great culture and put them all together on one card. Having a culture card is something that almost no business seems to do. And yet, it is the most important tool that weve used in building an organization in less than eight years to over $70 billion in assets under management. Enjoy our full library of Book Bitesread by the authors!in the Next Big Idea App. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
Category:
E-Commerce
On October 27, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that President Donald Trump has narrowed down his search to replace Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, whose term does not end until May 2026. Powell, who has butted heads with Trump over lowering interest rates amid the risk of increasing inflation, has said he will serve out the remainder of his term. After his term ends as chairman, his board term still extends until 2028. Trump is expected to announce a Federal Reserve chair replacement as early as December, according to reports. Were down to five,” Bessent told reporters as he was traveling with Trump on Air Force One, according to Yahoo Finance. “Were going to do a second round and we hope to present a good slate to the president right after Thanksgiving. . . . It will ultimately be his choice. Bessent said those five picks are: Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller, both members of the Federal Reserves board of governers; Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council; Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor; and Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of global fixed income at BlackRock, according to several media outlets per CNBC. Trump’s choice must be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. Like Powell, the new Fed chair will be charged with navigating inflation, the countrys weakening labor market, and stagnating growth. Fed members remain divided on whether the Trump administration’s economic policies, including high tariffs and a push for even lower interest rates, are helping or hurting the U.S. economy, CNN noted. Powell first became Fed chair in February 2018 and was reappointed for a second four-year term in May 2022. His term as a member of the Fed’s board of governors ends on January 31, 2028. Last month, he explained the Fed’s dilemma when it comes to cutting or raising interest rates: whether to use it to fight inflation or instead to help offset a struggling job market (while controlling prices and unemployment). We only have one tool, which is monetary policyreally, interest ratesand [the situation] is calling for different answers,” Powell said. “It’s a very difficult policy environment when your two goals are telling you two different things, you’ve got to make a compromise.”
Category:
E-Commerce
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