{"id":9882,"date":"2025-03-10T23:11:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T06:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/?p=9882"},"modified":"2025-03-10T23:11:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T06:11:38","slug":"new-research-google-search-grew-20-in-2024-receives-373x-more-searches-than-chatgpt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/new-research-google-search-grew-20-in-2024-receives-373x-more-searches-than-chatgpt\/","title":{"rendered":"New Research: Google Search Grew 20%+ in 2024; receives ~373X more searches than ChatGPT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For years, two questions have dominated both marketers\u2019 interest and the media\u2019s coverage of Google Search:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Are AI Tools taking market share away from Google?<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Is Google search growing, flatlining, or declining?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    I\u2019ve seen wild speculation that Google\u2019s market share is down 5-10% since ChatGPT\u2019s launch, and heard anecdotes across my feeds from people claiming that they never use Google and have entirely switched to AI tools. But, there\u2019s been no comprehensive, well-structured analysis to show the AI tools\u2019 share of search, nor any data to back up the claims of Google\u2019s supposed search decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Today, thanks to our partners at Datos (a Semrush company)<\/a> and this latest research we’ve done together, I believe we can put these questions to rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In order, here’s how we’ll do it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. Illuminate Google’s search true growth rate from 2023 to 2024<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Determine the size and composition of the AI tools challenging Google in search<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Uncover the metrics necessary to make a solid comparison between Google and their leading competitor(s)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Directly compare searches on Google vs. the leading AI Tool(s)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Google Search’s Growth Rate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Using the same methodology we covered in last week’s research<\/a> (Datos’ US panel of active desktop devices that visited Google at least once in a month in 2023 vs. 2024), we compared the average number of searches per searcher between the two years for all of Google (the first set of columns) and for each of the major, individual verticals (Images, News, Shopping, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n

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      \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

      In a single year and for a mature product 21.64% growth in searches<\/strong> across Google is remarkable. It also fits with what their CEO said publicly<\/a> about the introduction of AI Overviews in 2024:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cBased on our testing, we are encouraged that we are seeing an increase in search usage among people who use the new AI overviews as well as increased user satisfaction with the results.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Sure as heck looks like it did! So much for the fear that AI answers in Google would reduce the number of searches people performed; in fact the exact opposite appears to be true. Unfortunately, AI answers do seem to kill clickthrough rates: Seer Interactive’s study <\/a>showed that organic results suffered a 70% drop in CTR and paid dropped 12%. Another study from AWR<\/a> shows a similarly precipitous drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Who Are the Major AI Tool Challengers?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Most everyone has heard of ChatGPT, but Datos released research in January<\/a> identifying the other major AI tool vendors of 2024: Perplexity, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini. The usage of these AI tools is graphed over time below:<\/p>\n\n\n

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      \"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

      My two big takeaways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      1. It’s particularly impressive that Google’s Gemini is now in second place after a late start in the AI tools space<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. If we want to compare the volume of searches against Google, we need only consider ChatGPT.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        The others are so small (and Gemini is part of Google) that their numbers on any visualization would appear as insignificant slivers, so far. Perhaps as the space evolves, if one or several grow many times their current sizes, it will make sense to include them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        That settled, let’s look at searches on Google vs. ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        What Metrics Do We Need to Directly Compare Google vs. ChatGPT in Search?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        To make a fair comparison, we need to know:<\/p>\n\n\n\n