From the beginning of the modern web the search has been one of the most important features to discover content. From the beginning those services have usually also been free for the users.
However as the saying goes: "if you are not paying for it you're the product being sold". Dominant search services of today are bot catering to your needs. They are optimized to gather as much information from you as possible, and ensuring you are coming back for more.
There are a few alternatives that try to take the privacy and users need into account. Most of them are still funded by ads, but at least they try to do something on the market where a single service dominates.
AI assisted search is the revolution that could change this... or cement the tech giants dominance. It's hard to compete in any meaningful way in such markets. There are only two options:
- The current dominant entity keeps up with the development and just implements similar service
- New contender grows exponentially and becomes the new dominant entity
All the other competitors will be bought out or just wither away in marginality.