Federal judge Amit Mehta will soon rule on changes to Google's search business to address monopoly concerns in the search ad market. The ruling could reshape the search industry, affecting incumbents like Bing and Brave and newcomers such as OpenAI and Perplexity. One proposed remedy is mandatory data sharing via an API. Competitors warn that data sharing could increase reliance on Google and enable Google to undercut rivals by offering cheaper access due to scale. OpenAI currently uses scraped Google results through SerpApi and acknowledges accuracy gaps without Google data. The volume and variety of Google's data mean only well-resourced firms can fully leverage it, prompting calls for alternatives to raw data sharing to boost competition.
A decision is expected soon from federal judge Amit Mehta on how tech giant Google (GOOGL) should change its search business to address concerns that it holds a monopoly over the search ad market. Unsurprisingly, this ruling could have major effects on the entire search industry, including older players like Microsoft's (MSFT) Bing and Brave, and newer ones like OpenAI and Perplexity.
Indeed, if Google is required to share its data through an API, it could offer the service at a much lower price because of its size, thereby undercutting companies like Bing and Brave that have spent years building their own data systems. OpenAI, for example, has admitted that it would struggle to match Google's accuracy without access to its data, and it currently uses Google data through a third-party tool called SerpApi, which scrapes results from Google.
Interestingly, some believe that Google allows SerpApi to operate because it helps flood the market with cheap search data, which makes it harder for competitors with their own APIs to gain traction. In addition, even if rivals get access to Google's data, using it wouldn't be easy since Google collects billions of data points daily from its search engine, Chrome browser, Gemini chatbot, and more.
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